AUSMIN 2020: Social distancing while setting the agenda

Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds pulled off a magic trick at this week’s AUSMIN meeting. Australian decisions and directions—on military power, digital technology, misinformation and military supply chains—set the scene …

Europe bails out its populists

As expected, the European Parliament has torn into the European Council’s recently agreed budget and pandemic-response package. The €1.8 trillion price tag and proposed cuts to development funding, including science and research, have predictably met …

US–Australia talks: relationship returns to ‘normal’

Past communiqués from Australia–US Ministerial Consultations often contained pages on international developments and few ‘action items’ shaping what the US and Australia really do. Wednesday’s joint statement reverses that pattern by offering a long list of …