The ASEAN–Australia Special Summit attracted bipartisan Australian support, and was a success. We saw Malcolm Turnbull, in his carefully worded commentary and body language, engaging effectively with our neighbours. He understood the rhetorical need to …
Cyril Ramaphosa, the newly elected president of South Africa, likes to describe himself as an enigma. A carefully cultivated aura of mystery surrounds his political beliefs and policy preferences. Ramaphosa’s life is beset by paradox. …
The beat State of emergency lifted Sri Lanka has lifted a nationwide state of emergency that President Maithripala Sirisena had imposed on 6 March to quell anti-Muslim violence in the Buddhist majority country. Tensions boiled …
After the deaths of Osama bin Laden and several other leaders in 2011 and 2012, followed by the rise of Islamic State, many considered al-Qaeda ‘a spent force’. But in an important brief, (with an …
In 1965, Henry Kissinger wrote a book called The troubled partnership, in which he examined the tensions affecting the transatlantic alliance during the Cold War. A stable international order, he argued, demanded the leadership of …
In the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian, Conan laments ‘Crom is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, “What is the riddle of steel?” If I don’t …
As international concern mounts about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, recent events suggest a Pyongyang strongly interested in a new round of talks—or at least in talks with South Korea and the US, if …
Australia will have to respond to a formal complaint at the United Nations that procedures followed by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) breached obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. …
This article is the fifth in a series on ‘Women, Peace and Security’ that The Strategist will publish over coming weeks in recognition of International Women’s Day 2018. Eds. According to the UNHCR, women and girls make …
By my count this is my 285th contribution to The Strategist, and it’s my last in my time at ASPI. (But don’t breathe too big a sigh of relief—I intend to blight its virtual pages …
President Donald Trump has stunned allies and adversaries alike by accepting North Korean President Kim Jong-un’s invitation to meet with him in May to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. The speed with which he …
Sea state The Japanese coast guard has recommended charging a US Navy officer with negligent homicide. The recommendation comes 8 months after a collision at sea between USS Fitzgerald and container ship ACX Crystal in …