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 …
Governments rarely monitor and evaluate their diplomatic outcomes and study lessons learned. That’s strange given the extent to which they evaluate and scrutinise foreign aid spending, defence acquisitions and intelligence-collection efforts. Because so much of …
Sea state Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have escalated further as Russian special forces attacked and seized two Ukrainian gun boats and a tug off the coast of Crimea. A few days earlier, a Russian …
The latest clashes between Ukraine and Russia in the Sea of Azov are a stark reminder that there’s a war going on in Europe. Tensions are rising and further escalation is likely. Ukrainian officials claim …
It has been 100 years since World War I ended and the centenary was commemorated this month with great pomp in Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. Germany sent high-level authorities to France to …
In September 2014, as revelations from the Edward Snowden affair roiled Australia–Indonesia relations, the late Sabam Siagian, Jakarta’s ambassador to Canberra between 1991 and 1995, offered the kind of frank appraisal of the bilateral relationship …
President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the recent APEC summit in Port Moresby was meant to be the cap on a soft-power charm offensive validating Chinese influence in the Pacific. In the event, it has been …
With much fanfare, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on 8 November the establishment of a new facility to help fund infrastructure in the Pacific. But a much more effective solution is available. While the initiative …
The late historian Eric Hobsbawm described the 20th century as the ‘age of extremes’, in which state socialism led to the gulag; liberal capitalism led to cyclical depressions; and nationalism led to two world wars. …
As travel broadens the mind, so summit season allows an Australian leader to deepen their understanding of the world. The presidential pretensions of the Oz prime ministership get fullest expression at the summit. Working at …
The world Following the arrest of former Interpol head Meng Hongwei, the organisation appointed a new president, South Korean Kim Jong-yang. Lindsey Snell, for The Daily Beast, explains how authoritarian countries use Interpol to persecute …
Suddenly, the debate about creating a joint European Union army has gained real momentum. After French President Emmanuel Macron recently proposed the idea, US President Donald Trump disparaged it (in a tweet, of course), but …
Indonesia and Australia were supposed to sign their long-awaited bilateral free-trade agreement last week at the East Asia Summit in Singapore. But the deal has apparently been put on hold. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said …
Images of the leaders of South and North Korea, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, laughing, smiling and even hugging, are incredibly powerful. They represent the hope that the Korean peninsula is actually entering a new …
In this podcast, Madeleine Nyst talks to Michael Shoebridge about the strategic implications of the PNG–Australia–US joint naval base on Manus Island and the message that sends to China. In the wake of the Bourke …
In an interesting, and highly significant, recent statement, China’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Lu Kang, challenged Australia’s traditional perception that the South Pacific is within its sphere of influence. He stated that, ‘The Pacific islands are …
The beat Interpol not Russian for a new president South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang has been elected Interpol’s new president, despite predictions his opponent, Russian Alexander Prokopchuk, would win. Western representatives have been strongly critical of …
In the wake of the congressional midterms, the United States remains divided electorally and the primary issue continues to be President Donald Trump. American differences are now clearly in evidence in Congress, with Democrats having …
With headlines dominated by Canberra’s policy ‘step-up’ in the Pacific in response to China’s rapidly expanding influence in the region, it seems puzzling that the Morrison government would risk disrupting relations with two of its …