Debate: "Australia and its Region"
Fiji: end sanctions now

Improved relations between Australia and Fiji would benefit Canberra, Suva, and the region. Such ties would bolster Australia’s regional leadership credentials, assist Fiji’s dealings with its largest trading partner and donor, and prevent further collateral-damage …

Sweet and sour goodies for Fiji (part 2)

All change for Fiji. The Supremo is hanging up his uniform and becoming a civilian leader to give his New Order vision democratic credentials. For Canberra and Suva, this is the time to change the …

Sweet and sour goodies for Fiji (part 1)

Australia is setting out an array of goodies as it seeks to restore relations with Fiji, in anticipation of better days to follow September’s election. Canberra wants to achieve a diplomatic ceasefire, and to shift …

Status quo Australia versus revisionist Fiji

Australia likes the existing South Pacific system, while Fiji wants to change it. Even if Fiji returns to democracy, the prospect is for continuing competition between Suva and Canberra over competing visions of the regional …

Australia–France dialogue requires Pacific involvement

In their recent Strategist posts, Anthony Bergin and Peter Jennings propose closer defence cooperation between Australia and France, following the ASPI Australia–France Defence and Industry Dialogue. But surprisingly, both authors are largely silent about the …

Guns and roses… but no Valentine’s Day massacre

The Valentine’s Day meeting in Suva between Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Fiji’s Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama proved more of a love-in than a confrontation. Predictions before the meeting suggested that confrontation—at least …

France: Australia’s regional partner?

As Andrew Davies mentioned last week, we’ve just held an Australia-France Defence and Industry Dialogue. We discussed a wide range of security, industry and defence cooperation issues. There was a lively discussion about the big …

Old-world assumptions and time-tested conventions

As the mood of crisis that surrounded the Indonesia–Australia spying scandal recedes into the past, debate continues about what lessons Australia should learn from the affair. While the episode certainly provides instruction on how we …

PNG appoints a new military chief

Smart, measured and energetic, Colonel Gilbert Toropo seems a good choice to be Papua New Guinea’s next Defence Force Commander. He’ll need to be. Even the circumstances surrounding the announcement of his selection highlight difficulties …

Indonesia: blindspots and bullseyes

One of the most curious cabinet papers released on 1 January this year was a submission on ‘Australia–Indonesia relations: prospects and approach’ sponsored by the then Foreign Minister Bill Hayden and discussed in Cabinet on …