The world It’s summit season in Southeast Asia. This week all the big names of the Asia–Pacific descended on Vietnam and the Philippines for the 31st ASEAN Summit and related meetings (such as APEC and …
My colleague Andrew Davies has written convincingly about the challenges of securing a diplomatic resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis. He speculated about a solution in which the US accepts North Korea’s nuclear status …
The world The decades-old Iranian–Saudi rivalry ramped up this week after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying arms to the conflict in Yemen and using Hezbollah to exert political influence in Lebanon. The Lebanese prime …
The world It was another chaotic week in Spain as the central government imposed direct control of Catalonia, rescheduled elections, and arrested eight Catalan regional ministers for rebellion. Nearby, in Greece, it was a tough …
The world China watchers everywhere have spent the week glued to their screens for the CCP’s 19th Party Congress. This Brookings Institution video explains why the Party Congress matters. The main event of the Party …
Ramesh Thakur presents a strong case for challenging the Trump administration’s decision not to recertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). I’m in broad agreement with the points that he makes. His concluding thought …
The world Islamic State hasn’t claimed responsibility for last weekend’s blast in Mogadishu that killed more than 300 people, dispelling the popular myth that the organisation is willing to claim anything to boost its street …
The last couple of weeks have been big ones for space in the US. Vice President Pence chaired the newly re-formed US National Space Council, the peak body for charting US space policy, which had …
The world All eyes are on China in anticipation of the lustrum Communist Party of China (CPC) Congress. As the 19th Congress approaches, speculation is rife about Xi’s big plans: Will he name his successor? …
The world Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas inevitably spawned an overflow of opinion pieces and analysis profiling the gunman. Was he a terrorist? And what was the rationale behind Islamic State’s unusual claim of …
Space fans had a couple of big days last week at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. The government’s announcement of an Australian space agency on the first day of the five-day conference was important …
Adelaide has been lucky enough to host the 68th annual International Astronautical Congress, the world’s premier space policy and technology event. It was an ideal setting for the Turnbull government to announce an early finding …