It’ll be an awkward Christmas in Pyongyang. North Korea said today that Kim Jong-Un’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, has been executed. The official North Korean news agency KCNA said: The accused Jang brought together undesirable …
Articles by: "The Editors"
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has travelled to Jakarta to meet with her counterpart Marty Natalegawa to help mend a rift in Australia–Indonesia relations, which has come in the wake of a recent spying scandal that led to …
Well, what a week. On Saturday, China announced an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. The area overlaps Japanese and South Korean (and Taiwanese) claims—here’s a good graphic from the NYT. …
The story of the week has been, of course, the deterioration of Australia–Indonesia diplomatic ties in the wake of a spying scandal concerning the Indonesian President. And while there’s been no shortage of news stories …
There was heartache this week after a near miss in talks with Iran. On a similar note, this article in The National Interest suggests that nuclear history may at least rhyme, with Russia modernising its nuclear force. So it …
There’s been a lot of commentary this week on Australia–Indonesia relations. For a seasoned Indonesian perspective, watch this Fairfax interview published today with Lieutenant General (rtd) Agus Widjojo, regarded as one of the post-Suharto era’s more …
Further revelations of US intelligence activity, including tapping of friendly world leaders phones, has put Washington’s intelligence community on the defensive. The Economist writes: On October 29th, realising that the political mood in Washington was, …
Turkey has announced plans to buy a long-range missile defence system (the HQ-9) from China, rather than NATO supplied Patriot missiles. Speculation is that the Chinese company (China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation) beat the Lockheed …
This week the bare minimum of sanity has prevailed in Washington, with the GOP blinking at the last minute on the US shutdown. Further government borrowing will be allowed, and those closed parts of the …
Anthony Bergin’s recent post Is Australia a pivotal power? has sparked a lot of responses. Below are the latest submissions. We’re also happy to hear from readers who aren’t named Andrew. It’s only words Andrew Davies In …
How does the region perceive the US pivot? Here’s one perspective from Jakarta: Asia would welcome a US policy that will, of necessity, be vastly different from the 2011 pivot, and one that is more realistic and less …
It’s another public holiday here in sunny Canberra, but we thought these posts from our archives would be topical to revisit. First up, submarines: last week saw Cameron Stewart publish articles on the prospects for life …