Last week’s meetings in Alaska constituted phase two in high-level US–China contact under the Biden administration. And it was consistent with phase one—Joe Biden’s phone call with Xi Jinping in February. Beyond the histrionics are …
Israelis will go to the polls on Tuesday for the fourth time in two years, with the future of their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hanging in the balance. Public opposition to Netanyahu has only intensified …
Maritime law enforcement (MLE) vessels are non-naval vessels employed on maritime law enforcement duties, primarily coastguard vessels, but also vessels of other MLE agencies, such as marine police and fisheries protection services. The growth of …
The 2021 ‘State of Southeast Asia’ survey report by Singapore-based think tank ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute reveals some hard realities about Indonesians’ attitudes towards Australia. The survey exposes the limited impact of Australia’s soft-power …
It’s 1988 and Australia has only a handful of women ambassadors, with just four women serving as heads of mission. Making a program on the emerging feminine side of Oz diplomacy 33 years ago, 60 …
In this episode, ASPI visiting fellow Robert Glasser speaks with climate expert Frank Jotzo, professor at the Australian National University and director of the ANU’s Centre for Climate and Energy Policy. They discuss the global …
This week saw two significant developments in Australian counterterrorism. Victoria Police arrested two young men and a boy in Melbourne, and charged the two men with planning a terrorist act and one with being a …
In 2007, I was invited by the United Nations to address a regional conference on multilateral cooperation in Pacific Rim ocean governance. The conference was hosted by the Admiral Nevelskoy State Maritime University in Russia’s …
Beijing has long understood that China has a water-security problem that could pose an existential threat. In 2005, China’s minister for water resources reportedly said, ‘To fight for every drop of water or die: that …
This month in Beijing, the so-called two sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference convened to formalise a range of policy goals for China’s economic development, environmental management, law, …
Turkish and Iranian interests coincide in the fields of energy and trade, especially because of Turkey’s dependence on Iranian oil and gas and Iran’s imports of Turkish goods. The two countries also align in their …
The past year has seen major progress in increasing the Northern Territory’s fuel storage capacity and fuel stockholdings—and there’s more to come. The expansion is spread across airfields and ports and comprises different fuel types, …
The hack of Microsoft’s Exchange server software, which centrally manages email and calendars for businesses, threatens to be a bonanza for cybercriminals and may alter the course of US–China relations under the Biden administration. State-based …
What does it take, one wonders, for ASEAN to take action against one of its member states? Not genocide, it seems, or a military coup, or the gunning down of peaceful protesters. According to ASEAN’s …
Sea state China’s assertive maritime policies and naval ambitions are being met with an increased European presence in the Indo-Pacific. This year, the UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will transit the South China …
Prime Minister Scott Morrison may be forecasting ‘a new dawn in the Indo-Pacific’ with the arrival of the Quad meeting of Australian, Japanese, Indian and US leaders, but we would do well to remember the …
The Quad is back in action. Australia, India, Japan and the US formed the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in 2007 in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, but it foundered in 2008 due to lack …
Economic nationalism is already threatening to derail the headline commitment of last weekend’s Quad leaders’ summit to manufacture and distribute 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations, which is intended to counter China’s …
What keeps Taiwan independent? Ambiguous alliances and regular weapons purchases have so far acted as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s desire to finally annex Taiwan into the People’s Republic of China. But Taiwan has another …
The protracted Afghanistan conflict and lack of progress in the intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha have prompted President Joe Biden’s administration to get tough with the Afghan government and pressure the Taliban to reach a …