The recent announcements about Australian and US investment in a base at Lombrum on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea has elicited positive, yet guarded, support. Putting aside the real value to PNG of being …
It’s tempting to view the recent confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov—in which Russia denied Ukrainian vessels access to the Strait of Kerch and the Ukrainian city of Mariupol—as …
The death of George H.W. Bush has inspired high praise from across the international political spectrum. This is largely because America’s 41st president (1989–1993) was almost above politics as we know it today. ‘[B]y temperament …
I have worked for four US presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike, and perhaps the most important thing I have learned along the way is that little of what we call history is inevitable. What happens …
Too much expectation is being loaded on the prospect that one dinner in Buenos Aires between US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping will solve the many differences in trade and global outlook …
In the South Pacific, Australia confronts the law of untended purposes. The law states that if you don’t tend to your policy and political purposes, stuff goes off course and the unexpected arrives. If your …
The world Following the run-in between the Russian and Ukrainian navies in the Strait of Kerch, the stark escalation of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv is broken down by Christopher Miller for Radio Free Europe/Radio …
Despite herculean efforts, countering terrorist financing has proven to be hard. The reasons for that include the complexity of the international financial system, some states’ reluctance to enforce existing measures, and terrorist groups’ ability to …
Whenever a ‘minilateral’ is launched, its exclusive membership is questioned. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among Australia, India, Japan and the United States has suffered from that fate. When it was about to gain momentum in …
During the initial wave of digital-transformation efforts, Australia developed an international reputation as an early leader. That peaked in around 1999. While the different tiers of government (local, state and federal) and individual agencies have …
Strong personal relationships between Australian military personnel and those of the countries in our region are profoundly important, says defence force chief Angus Campbell. General Campbell tells The Strategist he’s very supportive of the idea …
Australia’s silence on the attribution of cyberattacks and intellectual property theft emanating from China is representative of a broader silence on irritants and fundamental differences in the bilateral relationship. This silence does not serve Australia’s …
The intensifying competition between the US and China was on full display in Port Moresby during the recent APEC summit. For the first time in its history, the summit ended in failure without the release …
The beat Honduran president’s brother faces drug charges Juan Antonio Hernández, the brother of Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, has been arrested in the US on drug and weapons charges, including the importation of tonnes …
The Australian Defence Force has made considerable progress over the past few years in incorporating a gender perspective across its training and operations. To support the WPS (women, peace and security) agenda, the Defence Department …
US President Donald Trump blew off two multilateral summits in Asia this month. Given his soggy and sulking performance that week in Paris, during the international commemoration of the centenary of the end of World …
Much has been written recently about the decision to redevelop the naval base at Lombrum on Manus Island. Initially it was to be a joint Australia–PNG facility, but American vice president Mike Pence has announced …
It is finally dawning on Indonesia’s political elite that holding presidential and legislative elections on the same day next April could sound the death knell for as many as four of the 10 political parties …
There has long been talk that the strategic rivalry emerging between the United States and China in recent years could one day give way to confrontation. That moment has arrived. Welcome to the Cold War …
As part of the Australian government’s Pacific push, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced an Australian infrastructure financing facility to support essential infrastructure development in the region. The move echoes earlier calls from the Labor …