The man who promised to drain Washington’s swamp has water around his ankles. Alligators snap. Amid the rolling, roiling, rollicking Wars of Washington, Donald Trump needs a map of the swamp. The Donald should uncouple …
The technical bastardry of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in degrading its shortwave broadcasts to the South Pacific has been starkly revealed. The bloody-mindedness helps explain the dumb decision to turn off Australia’s shortwave service that …
The shock of Donald Trump has prompted Australia to become shriller about China. Struck dumb by The Donald, Canberra can at least find its tongue about China. ‘Shock and awe’ is probably too grandiose a …
A five-nation defence pact for which the peak ministerial council has met only 10 times in 46 years is a happy institution. Threats can’t be pressing and the military machinery must be running smoothly. …
An Asia that doubted the strength and commitment of the US pivot now confronts a new White House songbook. The tune is ‘America First’. The words are, ‘Let’s make a deal!’ And Asia can’t yet …
‘In this brave new world we cannot rely on great powers to safeguard our interests.’ Malcolm Turnbull, Singapore, June 2, 2017. Australia’s Prime Minister has given a big Asia speech that attacked China directly while …
As the dog that barks regularly but never bites, ASEAN has been yapping at China for 15 years to get a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. At last, China is throwing ASEAN …
Beijing’s great celebration of the Belt and Road Initiative was a lavish display of China’s promise and power. All those nations paying court to Xi Jinping’s celebratory circus confront the conflicting emotions captured by a …
To ponder 50 years of the Association of South East Asian Nations is to see the constant interplay of shadow and substance. On the shadow side, ASEAN always talks a good game and promises much. …
ASEAN is ever beset by existential angst. The ‘A’ in ASEAN stands for Angst as well as Association. Regard this as more description than criticism. The Angst-Association of South East Asian Nations always has lots …
Like the World War One 9.2-inch siege howitzer, Dennis Richardson has been a mobile weapon, deployed across many fields of battle, able to deliver a lot of ordnance with maximum elevation in a single shot. …
Pick the anomaly in this list of what Australia does and desires in the South Pacific: Australia wants a leadership role in the South Pacific, a fundamental foreign policy interest explicitly stated in 1901 in …