Figures reveal slump in Australia’s trade with India

A slump in Australia’s trade with India undercuts the government’s hopes that the country might become a democratic counterweight to our economic dependence on authoritarian China. While the headline coverage of last week’s official trade …

Press freedom under attack across Asia

By almost every measure, press freedom in East Asia has suffered a depressing erosion lately. Professional journalists and citizen bloggers have been jailed or slapped with costly defamation suits. Media outlets have had their operating …

Technology is driving another global power shift

Since 2017, America’s national security strategy has focused on great-power competition, and today much of Washington is busy portraying our relationship with China as a new cold war. Obviously, great-power competition remains a crucial aspect …

The future legacy of Hiroshima

On 6 August—75 years ago today—the first nuclear weapon used in anger was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. One more was used against Nagasaki on 9 August, and since then, no nuclear weapons …

Vietnam steps up to take ASEAN leadership role

Vietnam assumed the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last November for 2020—perhaps the most challenging year ever to take on the role. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the nature of diplomacy, particularly …

The pandemic’s geopolitical aftershocks

The triple crises of geopolitical power shifts, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disasters that flow from it will shape global politics, restructure global supply chains and bring an end to unregulated globalisation. The post-pandemic …