Australia always frets about the US alliance. Today, fret is becoming frenetic. Even a touch feverish. Fear darkens the fancies. Donald Trump could do to US alliances what he’s done to US trade policy. The …
Articles by: "Graeme Dobell"
‘Indonesia and Australia are destined to be close neighbours. We cannot choose our neighbours. We have to choose to be friends. Australia is Indonesia’s closest friend.’ — Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Address to the Australian …
Kim Beazley and Paul Dibb are two tenors of Oz strategy. Each has a distinctive voice. Combine those voices and the power magnifies. Over four decades, the two tenors have shifted the terms and the …
Brexit! Brexit? Brexit!&#£? Here is proof of an old Yiddish curse: ‘May you get what you wish for.’ Britain has got its wish: it left the European Union on 31 January. The hard part starts …
Australia had a part in East Timor’s march to tragedy and a key role in its salvation. Cruel ironies and strange mirror effects mark Australia’s performance in the lead-up to Indonesia’s invasion, in 1974–75, and …
Australia invites itself to America’s wars—Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. A singular purpose runs through them all: the US alliance. Australia invites itself so it can pay its alliance dues. It’s the insurance model Prime …
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of …
‘The stability and economic progress of Papua New Guinea, other Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste is of fundamental importance to Australia.’ Australian foreign policy white paper, 2017 Australia’s deepest, oldest instinct in the South Pacific …
The map of Pacific island maritime boundaries is also the image of a paradigm shift. This fundamental change in the understandings and imaginings of the islands was delivered by the UN’s creation of 200-mile exclusive …
Render the strategic outlook for 2020 into a core conundrum: How goes the new era of great-power competition? Is it to be security confrontation and economic decoupling? The crystal ball is clouded by rivalry. China …
The ‘new normal’ of Australia’s relationship with China is that it will be marked by ‘enduring differences’. That’s the outlook offered by the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson. It’s …
Journalism has always been a tough trade in the South Pacific. Living and working in island communities exposes editors and reporters to unusual political, personal and professional pressures. A statement warning about ‘growing threats to …