When US President Joe Biden visits the Middle East next month, his hosts—in particular, Saudi Arabia—will probably try to persuade him to re-engage with the region. Far from enabling the United States to focus on …
Debate: "General"
During the Covid-19 pandemic there have been extraordinary signs of resilience in Pacific island states. This is despite the economic hardship caused by over two years of border closures in some countries. Most employees in …
To kick off this episode of the ASPI podcast, Alex Bristow speaks to ASPI newcomer Bec Shrimpton, who will head up this year’s Sydney Dialogue. They discuss the strategic threats Australia faces, including the challenges …
Myanmar is both tragedy and wicked problem. For theorists, a ‘wicked problem’ is a complex dilemma with no single solution or natural end point. For Myanmar, ‘wicked’ also means evil. In both senses of wicked, …
Last weekend’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore was the first since 2019 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which seemed to make the event cathartic for pent-up tensions in the international system. Taiwan was a major topic …
The European Union has reacted faster, more decisively and with greater unity to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than to any previous crisis. Together with its allies, the EU and its member states have provided important …
Being one of 121 Australians whose names have been put on a list by Vladimir Putin’s government that stops us from travelling to Russia doesn’t really affect my life. So, in a narrow, personal way, …
President Xi Jinping’s ‘China dream’ now extends across the Pacific Ocean, where his foreign minister, Wang Yi, recently completed a Pacific islands tour of sweeping ambition. Set against the backdrop of China’s stagnating economy yet …
Echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s description of his war in Ukraine, China’s Xi Jinping has released a directive that licenses his armed forces to conduct ‘special military operations’. This involves the People’s Liberation Army using …
When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, he envisaged a quick seizure of Kyiv and a change of government analogous to Soviet interventions in Budapest in 1956 and Prague …
Australia is removing the qualifications from its quasi-alliance with Japan. The visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles is another step in the fading of the qualifiers: ‘quasi-alliance’, ‘small “a” …
The war in Ukraine has shaken a fundamental assumption of Vietnam’s defence posture—that its old friend Russia would remain a reliable supplier of key weapons systems to help deter Chinese aggression. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine …