Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 1 day ago
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Japan
    • Malaysia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Thailand
    • Australia
    • Australia and Asia

    China’s rise in Southeast Asia is bringing in a golden age for Australia

    Susannah Patton
    Disquiet about Beijing’s growing presence is motivating countries across the region to seek deeper cooperation with Canberra.
  • 5 Sep 2024
    • Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy

    Economic diplomacy: Taking sides for an election

    Greg Earl
    From ANZUS, Indonesia, regional business and media reporting, Penny Wong seems to have legacy in mind.
  • 23 Aug 2024
    • Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Diplomacy
    • Communities
    • Regional relationships

    Key questions for reform of the New Colombo Plan

    Ly Tran
    A boost to the ties that bind Australia and the Indo-Pacific is essential to humanising public diplomacy and building life-long connections.
  • 23 Aug 2024
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Resource security

    A glimpse into Indonesia's nickel policy

    Hilman Palaon , Robert Walker
    China has become a key partner, but locals pay the price and need more support to realise the benefits.
  • 16 Aug 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Interoperability: The missing link in Indo-Pacific security

    Jennifer Parker
    Settling on a definition of an overused buzzword is the first step for Australia to ensure successful military partnerships in Southeast Asia.
  • 9 Aug 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    Is Australia too late to claim its green economy share?

    Trang Nguyen
    Playing a role in Southeast Asia’s green energy transition is an opportunity Australia must not let pass.
  • 9 Aug 2024
    • Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Africa

    Without money, the global biodiversity target is just an empty promise

    Mohd. Yunus
    Beyond social responsibility, funding conservation in developing nations is critical to the global economy.
  • 25 Jul 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Geo-economics

    Economic diplomacy: Looking beyond a 30-year anomaly

    Greg Earl
    Divining economic statecraft is animating international relations roundtables but unnerving the money managers.
  • 25 Jul 2024
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights
    • Migration

    Child marriage in Southeast Asia: When a harmful practice becomes an international crime

    Leisha Lister , Indira Rosenthal
    ASEAN can lead the way in tackling a practice that regularly results in the trafficking of persons.
  • 19 Jul 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    The uncertain future for Southeast Asia’s great sea nomads

    Mohd. Yunus
    The seafaring tribes that crisscross the region’s waters are vital to ocean conservation but climate change is taking a toll.
  • 17 Jun 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Southeast Asia

    2024 Southeast Asia Aid Map: Warning signs for the region

    Grace Stanhope , Alexandre Dayant
    Declining levels of international financial support, especially for the clean energy transition, are cause for alarm.
  • 31 May 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Global Economy

    Southeast Asia after the shocks: Economic growth, but not as we know it

    Robert Walker , Roland Rajah
    New Lowy Institute research shows the pandemic and Ukraine war have taken a toll, while the benefits from supply chains shifting out of China have so far been limited.
  • 30 May 2024
    • Asean
    • India
    • Malaysia
    • Southeast Asia

    Does India’s Act East Policy matter to Southeast Asia?

    Yanitha Meena Louis , Jaideep Singh
    Ties with Malaysia make a powerful case study to assess regional ties with the South Asian giant. But others are doing better.
  • 16 May 2024
    • Asean
    • China
    • India
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australia's Economy
    • Papua New Guinea

    Economic diplomacy: Budgeting for deglobalisation

    Greg Earl
    Keeping up with the worldwide shift to industry policy is stretching boundaries of both economics and diplomacy.
  • 29 Apr 2024
    • Asean
    • India
    • Southeast Asia

    Why India’s Global South ambitions must turn to Southeast Asia

    Rahul Mishra , Yanitha Meena Louis
    An important part of seamless communication is still missing – and this carries a regional cost.
  • 26 Apr 2024
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Australia’s comparative advantage in climate transition

    Stephen Grenville
    Already world leaders in rooftop solar, Australians should take the opportunity with supporting rollouts in Southeast Asia.
  • 17 Apr 2024
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights
    • Migration
    • Transnational Challenges

    Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind

    Elisabeth Jackson
    It is often those who should be responsible for protecting people with disabilities who exploit them.
  • 2 Apr 2024
    • Japan
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia's Trade
    • Multilateral Development Banks

    Australia’s Southeast Asia trade stumbling block

    Maxfield Peterson
    Canberra must move fast on a formal information-sharing facility to reach its regional economic and foreign policy goals.
  • 28 Mar 2024
    • Asia
    • China
    • China's Economy
    • Chinese Trade
    • Southeast Asia

    Mind the gap: China’s megaproject promises fall short of reality in Southeast Asia

    Grace Stanhope , Alexandre Dayant
    Debt, delay and deteriorating ties between China and its infrastructure partners have led some to go it alone.
  • 14 Mar 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Southeast Asia
    • Climate change

    A multilateral bank for the Indo-Pacific?

    Michelle Lyons , Roland Rajah , Grace Stanhope
    The region needs a dedicated bank that enhances economic security in the pursuit of climate and development goals.
  • 8 Mar 2024
    • Development Assistance
    • Southeast Asia
    • Poverty
    • Multilateral Development Banks
    • Sex and Gender

    Gender equality financing: Spotlight on Southeast Asia

    Grace Stanhope
    A discrepancy in data collection for gender-led funding is skewing the stats on development support in the region.
  • 1 Mar 2024
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    The parts within the whole: Understanding Southeast Asia’s economies

    Hannah Denson
    The diversity within the region is as important to understand as the ways ASEAN seeks to build consensus.
  • 26 Feb 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Middle East

    Israel-Hamas: A globalised conflict

    Ben Scott
    The Palestinian issue has never lost its resonance beyond the Middle East, especially in the Global South.
  • 15 Feb 2024
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Climate change

    Go big or go home: Australia should invest at scale in Southeast Asia’s energy transition

    Michelle Lyons , Roland Rajah , Grace Stanhope
    The Paris Agreement will not succeed if the bid for net zero in Southeast Asia fails.
  • 4 Dec 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • China's Military
    • South China Sea
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • International law

    How to stop any repeat of the Australia-China sonar incident

    Collin Koh
    A regional deal to close a loophole relating to the use of sonar in international law could be a good place to start.
  • 29 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Technology

    Southeast Asia's minerals: Opportunity knocks

    Ian Satchwell
    Australia should make better use of its regional leadership in minerals technology, skills and governance.
  • 22 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Chinese Trade
    • Myanmar
    • Southeast Asia
    • Thailand
    • Trade and Investment in the Asia Pacific
    • Australia and Asia
    • Quad
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Trade

    Why is Myanmar’s new deep-sea port such hot property?

    Shaun Cameron
    An alternative route to the Strait of Malacca offers China, and others, a safer, faster and more efficient trade route.
  • 17 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands

    Australian development cooperation: Urgent and important, but “not a priority”

    Richard Moore
    Development policy contradictions reveal the failure of the DFAT-AusAID integration.
  • 26 Oct 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Defence & Security

    Not only the dragon: Understanding Southeast Asia’s complex security landscape

    Rahman Yaacob
    Yes, US-China rivalry creates unease. But so do more pressing threats closer to home.
  • 19 Oct 2023
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia

    Owning the Indo-Pacific term: Time for a new ASEAN strategic narrative

    Ngô Di Lân
    With its diverse membership that includes democracies, monarchies, and single-party states, the grouping is well positioned for an inclusive approach.
  • 10 Oct 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights
    • Transnational Challenges
    • United Nations

    Online scams in Southeast Asia create double victims: those targeted and those forced to carry them out

    Jitsiree Thongnoi
    There are those deceived by scams, and those coerced into crime.
  • 29 Sep 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia's Economy
    • Australia's Trade
    • Diplomacy

    Great expectations: Australia’s elusive Southeast Asia vision

    Stephen Grenville
    Diplomacy, economic partnerships, copper mines and instant noodles - the Moore Report has much to reflect on.
  • 12 Sep 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • South China Sea
    • Southeast Asia

    ASEAN, China and the trust deficit

    Rahman Yaacob
    The gap between rhetoric and action is Beijing’s biggest problem – and the region showed it isn’t afraid to call this out.
  • 11 Sep 2023
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy

    In Australia’s big play in Southeast Asia, mobilising the private sector is critical

    Georgie Skipper
    A stand-off over perceived risks and rewards has long hampered Australia’s economic engagement in the region but a new strategy marks a strong step forward.
  • 28 Aug 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    Indo-Pacific strategy: Uniting all the players on the board

    Saba Sattar
    Trouble in the Pacific shows that an aligned approach across the sub-regions is essential in the contest with China.
  • 24 Aug 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Technology

    Cash is king, no more

    Hilman Palaon
    Digital payments have transformed Australia, but global financial infrastructure for a cashless society still has some catching up to do.
  • 11 Aug 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Development Assistance
    • Southeast Asia

    The constrained ambition of Australia’s new development policy

    Roland Rajah
    Aid “rebuild” focuses on quality and smarter geopolitics, but not dollars.
  • 21 Jul 2023
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Southeast Asia
    • Russia
    • Global Issues
    • Africa

    Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?

    Daniel Flitton
    Put together a list and you can start to see a pattern.
  • 14 Jul 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Technology

    Australia and Southeast Asia: Driving EV collaboration across borders

    Nicholas Basan
    A regional value chain for battery production – with Australia to process critical minerals and export these products – is too good a chance to ignore.
  • 5 May 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • South China Sea
    • Southeast Asia

    Indonesia’s dilemma as China pushes a “Global Security Initiative”

    Alfin Febrian Basundoro
    Existing regional mechanisms can accommodate diverse interests in Southeast Asia without the need for a new forum.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Laos
    • Southeast Asia
    • Sustainability

    Mekong River: Turning declaration into actions

    Andrea Haefner
    Millions rely on Southeast Asia’s biggest river and promises made in Vientiane last week must be kept.
  • 21 Mar 2023
    • Asean
    • Japan
    • Southeast Asia

    Japan seeks an improved climate in relations with ASEAN

    Sam Baron
    A new blueprint for economic ties between Tokyo and Southeast Asian nations has a focus on sustainable development.
  • 3 Feb 2023
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • South China Sea
    • Southeast Asia
    • Energy
    • Resource security

    Global energy scarcity and the South China Sea

    Suryaputra Wijaksana
    A new source of natural gas within the controversial “nine-dash line” should revive questions about sharing access.
  • 18 Jan 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Technology
    • Sex and Gender

    Link start-ups ecosystems to build influence in Southeast Asia

    Robert Law
    Australia should launch a major initiative to support investment with new business prospects in the region.
  • 13 Sep 2022
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament

    Has Southeast Asia warmed to AUKUS one year on?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    The shock of surprise has faded and a new tone from new voices may ease some concerns. But objections remain.
  • 9 Sep 2022
    • Asean
    • China
    • Southeast Asia
    • United States

    US-China rivalry in Southeast Asia need not be a zero-sum game

    Thi Mai Anh Nguyen
    The big powers should pay more attention to the cooperative instincts of regional partners.
  • 6 Sep 2022
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia

    Debating Southeast Asia’s future

    Susannah Patton
    Insights from six of the region’s most interesting economic thinkers show the pathway to collective growth is not clear.
  • 26 Jul 2022
    • Southeast Asia
    • Asean
    • Global Economy
    • Coronavirus

    ASEAN and pandemic recovery: Economy before strategic rivalry

    Tiara Putri Indira Dewanti
    Southeast Asia needs international support to rebuild from Covid. But help should not come with strings attached.
  • 28 Jun 2022
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia

    New directions in Australia-Southeast Asia relations

    Susannah Patton
    How the Albanese government could refocus on Southeast Asia in 2022 – and beyond.
  • 9 Jun 2022
    • Global Issues
    • Southeast Asia
    • International law

    Stemming the tide of piracy in Southeast Asia

    Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh
    The laws set by the United Nations 40 years ago no longer suit the fight against modern-day crime on the high seas.
Pagination
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Next page ››

Stay informed with the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

Register

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2024 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks