18 Sep 2023
Seychelles: Washington comes calling
Small island states are back on the diplomatic agenda with the West looking for strategic depth in the Indian Ocean region.
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12 Sep 2023
Amid great power visits, don’t underestimate middle power cooperation
With Vietnam supercharging its relationship with the United States, Australia may be next. -
4 Sep 2023
Climate justice: friendshoring, China’s supremacy and America’s IR Act
The goal of ensuring equitable outcomes through the energy transition must be global. -
28 Aug 2023
Indo-Pacific strategy: Uniting all the players on the board
Trouble in the Pacific shows that an aligned approach across the sub-regions is essential in the contest with China. -
28 Aug 2023
Australia and the UN: A new agenda for peace
Multilateral responses to the threats of new and emerging tech – from AI warfare to bioweapons – are crucial to success. -
25 Aug 2023
The social licence for AUKUS has not yet been earned
Convincing Australians that nuclear-powered subs are needed, and worth the $368 billion price tag, is a hard sell. -
17 Aug 2023
Bridging the divide: the significance of the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral
The Biden administration sees the upcoming summit as historic – China and North Korea may also, for different reasons. -
14 Aug 2023
The Moon: The great game on new turf
India joins a powerplay with the United States, China and Russia in the hunt for lunar treasure and strategic superiority. -
7 Aug 2023
For America’s atomic bomb legacy, the past is present
The fallout of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – as well as nuclear testing in the Pacific – continues to hang over the US regional reputation. -
4 Aug 2023
Archipelago angst: How Indonesia and the US differ on air routes over sea lanes
UNCLOS ambiguity, again. -
3 Aug 2023
De-dollarisation: shifting power between the US and BRICS
Will a new global reserve currency threaten the greenback's supremacy? The short answer is yes. -
3 Aug 2023
The vanishing options for Julian Assange
Extradition for the WikiLeaks founder to the United States looks likely unless Anthony Albanese can persuade Joe Biden otherwise. -
1 Aug 2023
Something fishy about China’s anger over the Quad’s open ocean plans
Even illegal fishing is politicised amid growing China-US tensions. -
27 Jul 2023
Qin Gang has come and gone, but US-China drama is stuck on repeat
The sudden and surprising demise of China’s foreign minister won’t change the systemic tensions in the relationship. -
27 Jul 2023
An agenda for the AUSMIN talks
Australia should spend less time worrying about American strength – and more time thinking about its resolve. -
26 Jul 2023
A return to old-school mercantilism?
Suspicion and economic competition are forcing states back in time, with protectionism and self-sufficiency the new norm. -
24 Jul 2023
Forget Washington, Pyongyang’s most important target has always been Beijing
Kim Jong-un’s charm offensive with Donald Trump may have yielded few results. Not so his efforts with Xi Jinping. -
17 Jul 2023
The emergence of “collective strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan
With a change in language, has Washington over-promised on its allies’ appetite for conflict with China? -
10 Jul 2023
The Quad: Tackling the spider, not cobwebs, in cyberspace
A security pact, but not as we know it. How a commitment to uplift software security will reap benefits for all. -
5 Jul 2023
The downsides for Australia from the US‑PNG defence agreement
Sovereignty concerns about the American deal will create additional hurdles for Australia-PNG Defence Treaty currently under negotiation. -
27 Jun 2023
China’s double wedge against efforts to foster Vietnam-US relations
Just as Beijing seeks to coerce Hanoi in the South China Sea, it warns about Washington’s intentions closer to home. -
19 Jun 2023
Will Modi charm again in Washington?
The Indian PM’s visit will see Biden embrace a polarising leader while trying to keep an influential diaspora onside. -
16 Jun 2023
Is US industrial policy headed in the wrong direction?
Washington’s geopolitical strategy threatens to entrench economic hierarchies and undermine the global green transition. -
15 Jun 2023
Washington’s difficult dance in the Middle East
The United States is recalibrating its strategy in the region and using history as a guide. -
15 Jun 2023
It’s time for South Korea to refocus on multilateral diplomacy
A new national security strategy stresses values-based diplomacy, but that can’t be at the expense of talking to China. -
13 Jun 2023
Shangri-La: A missed chance for US–China dialogue
But at least both sides recognised that the outbreak of a conflict would be “unbearable”. -
9 Jun 2023
The US steps up pressure on Bangladesh ahead of elections
Concerns about fostering democracy must also be considered alongside growing US strategic interests in the country. -
8 Jun 2023
Economic diplomacy: Duelling D-words to delineate China
Australia seems to be treading carefully around the G7’s agreement to de-risk dependence on the region’s biggest economy. -
6 Jun 2023
US-China: A Cold War lesson to apply “rules of the road” at sea
Soviet and American warships had a code to prevent dangerous encounters and the US and China should have the same. -
5 Jun 2023
Lessons from history: Comparing Australia’s response to war crimes with the United States
The fallout from the Ben Roberts-Smith case is only the beginning of a reckoning about justice in war. -
19 May 2023
Building a Quad that lasts to the next generation
Joe Biden won’t decide the future of the Quad. But he and the other engaged leaders can help foster it. -
17 May 2023
Biden’s trip cancellations reveal pitfalls of a crowded diplomatic calendar
Bailing on Australia and PNG highlights the growing risk of disappointment when leaders are clambering to summits here, there, everywhere. -
10 May 2023
Biden’s quiet economic revolution
The guiding hand of the state is back as geopolitics rules. -
28 Apr 2023
Marcos has turned the Philippines towards America – not without risks
An expanded US military presence will benefit efforts to stand up to China. But Filipinos are wary of the social cost. -
27 Apr 2023
Will US reassurance be enough to halt South Korea’s nuclear ambition?
Seoul has won extra support from Washington, but not for the goal of global disarmament. -
26 Apr 2023
Quad should ask ASEAN to a diplomatic dance
For all the talk of hedging, Southeast Asian nations have long worried about China’s ambition to dominate the region. -
19 Apr 2023
Hugh White on the choice facing Penny Wong
How long can the Foreign Minister talk of a multipolar order in Asia in a government working to bolster US strategic primacy? -
18 Apr 2023
Not the Indo-Pacific: a Melanesian view on strategic competition
The states of the southwest Pacific are not interested in a zero-sum contest between the United States and China. -
13 Apr 2023
Economic diplomacy: Counting the cost of decoupling
US-China tensions are disrupting economic links for other countries as new forecasts of slow growth make change harder. -
12 Apr 2023
Australia’s delicate dance with the United States and China
Could Canberra’s deft management of its Beijing relationship influence policy in Washington? -
4 Apr 2023
To help end war in Ukraine, the Quad should back India to engage Russia
India might be accused of playing both sides but also has the special relationships to lead a push towards a settlement. -
4 Apr 2023
North Korea keeps building more powerful weapons, with no end in sight
Diplomacy is desperately needed to avoid an irreversible escalation in nuclear capability and the excuse to use it. -
3 Apr 2023
What the Quad could learn from AUKUS
If the four powers decide to adopt a greater security role, they should go beyond empty signals. -
22 Mar 2023
AUKUS commits Australia to fight China if America does, simple
Whatever the flag, Washington would not sell nuclear-powered boats unless it could count on them in war over Taiwan. -
17 Mar 2023
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
Three of the world’s most influential powers have skin in the game when it comes to preventing another civil war. -
16 Mar 2023
What went right in Iraq
Twenty years on, the former Coalition Provisional Authority head reflects on his year in charge of the country. -
14 Mar 2023
Japan and South Korea: a logical but uneasy alignment
Is a compensation deal to right colonial-era wrongs part of a strategic shift towards rapprochement? -
10 Mar 2023
AUKUS: Asking a veteran submariner what to think
What are the big issues still lurking beneath the surface of the AUKUS debate? -
2 Mar 2023
AUKUS and intellectual property
In an era of economic entanglement, IP theft has the potential to threaten democracy. Governments need to be vigilant. -
15 Feb 2023
Balloon goes up for Washington’s “decisive decade”
Matching it with Beijing will take far more attention than the United States has so far devoted.