17 Dec 2020
When China lashed out
Lessons of the past are too readily overlooked. But Australia has walked a tightrope between clashing giants before.
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11 Dec 2020
Joe Biden’s Pentagon pick sends a message
The choice of Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary singles out someone who could help end America’s “forever wars”. -
10 Dec 2020
Where America finds itself
With Trump on the way out, from the White House at least, there is perhaps a chance to get serious for a moment. -
8 Dec 2020
Favourites of 2020: The politics of Tiger King
An absurd insight? Dishonesty, narcissism and the celebritisation of politics do sound awfully familiar. -
2 Dec 2020
The surprise of Biden
Written off before he improbably rose to the top, Joe Biden may have the right stuff to lead America through a crisis. -
30 Nov 2020
Donald Trump vs the democratic tradition
By refusing to concede an election he has lost, the American president further undermines faith in the system. -
27 Nov 2020
Fareed Zakaria on Australia’s “opportunity” between the US and China
Inspiration from a tiny giant in Southeast Asia might help Australia find a way through multiple diplomatic obstacles. -
25 Nov 2020
A Biden presidency and US-Russia relations
The new US administration will certainly push back harder on the Kremlin, but there may also be chances for engagement. -
20 Nov 2020
Back to the future: Will Biden’s Asia policy come full circle?
Hopes might be high for a new US administration. But polls show views on regional challenges have changed markedly, too. -
18 Nov 2020
The Democrats’ voter problem
Scraping through what should have been an easy win highlights systemic issues. -
13 Nov 2020
Biden’s clean energy plan versus China’s green tech dominance
The US might be able to construct a clean-energy supply chain without relying on China, but it won’t be easy. -
11 Nov 2020
America’s divisions are real, and not going away
Yes, Joe Biden won the election. But Donald Trump got 71 million votes, this time running on his record. -
11 Nov 2020
Leading by example: Two different responses to China’s rise
South Korea and Australia share many traits but differ in one important respect – their responses to a rising China. -
11 Nov 2020
Biden’s comfortable style of diplomacy will be welcome for Japan
Fear within Tokyo circles that the US will become “too soft” on China missed the nuance a new administration will adopt. -
10 Nov 2020
What does a Biden administration herald for New Zealand?
More congenial relations, certainly, but a competitive diplomatic marketplace in Washington should temper expectations. -
10 Nov 2020
A chance for the US to change its tune on justice
Will American hostility to the International Criminal Court, and exception from it, shift under a Biden administration? -
9 Nov 2020
Joe Biden: Big questions and great expectations
Will the world be receptive to a US attempt to reassert global leadership after the crassness of Trump’s America First? -
9 Nov 2020
Can Trumpism live without Trump?
Might a more competent Republican leader turn this movement into a far more powerful force? Or will the bloc splinter? -
8 Nov 2020
Can Joe Biden set the stage for a renewal of American leadership?
Much depends how he adjudicates a growing intra-centrist debate within the Democratic Party on the state of the world. -
5 Nov 2020
A Trump legacy?
Trump or Biden, it’s clear there are far bigger foreign policy contests still to be settled. -
3 Nov 2020
Blurring fact and fiction in the US election
Much of the chaos expected in the coming days and weeks can be tied to the commander in chief’s rhetoric. -
30 Oct 2020
America in 2020: The view from here
A selection of commentary and analysis from Lowy Institute voices on the state of affairs in and beyond the USA. -
30 Oct 2020
Why Kim Jong-un will soon miss Donald Trump
No more squabbles over big buttons, for one thing. -
29 Oct 2020
Inciter in chief
Trump’s pandering to white supremacists and right-wing militias brings a very real risk of violence on election day. -
29 Oct 2020
US election: A Democratic trifecta is within sight
Donald Trump’s mismanagement of crisis has swayed voters toward the Democrats. What if they pull off a sweep? -
28 Oct 2020
How South Koreans view the prospect of a Trump re-election
An unpopular President hasn’t dented support for the American alliance. -
23 Oct 2020
The tyranny of the present: American politics catches up with the past
Fusing politics with entertainment, conspiracy theories, hyper-partisanship. Sound familiar? We’ve been here before. -
21 Oct 2020
Donald Trump. Crisis? What Crisis?
We should be careful of the pre-Trump “world order” nostalgia and not forget the disasters of his predecessors. -
14 Oct 2020
Reckoning with a post-Trump America
Donald Trump may soon be out of the White House, but it will take longer to understand what he was doing there. -
12 Oct 2020
The false promise of regime change
A new book from an Obama insider considers the repeated failures of outside overthrow in the Middle East. -
5 Oct 2020
Trump gets sick and the media dives into the deep end
The reporting of Trump’s health has quickly fallen into the same polarised pattern of so much of his presidency. -
5 Oct 2020
A Quad of consequence: Balancing values and strategy
The four-way gathering in Tokyo offers a chance to set out a vision for regional stability in the post-Covid order. -
2 Oct 2020
US presidential debate: Prologue to chaos
The bizarre shout fest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was ugly. It’s going to get worse. -
30 Sep 2020
The unfinished Chinese civil war
Many frame China’s options against Taiwan as peace or invasion. This is a dangerous oversimplification. -
28 Sep 2020
A reality show for the US presidential race
This first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden promises a collision of two Americas, but little is likely to move. -
23 Sep 2020
A reckless president emboldened
What would four more years of Donald Trump’s leadership look like? Bob Woodward’s new book gives some clues. -
23 Sep 2020
How much did the spies really know about the virus?
What was said (and, just as importantly, not said) in Australia hints at early intelligence assessments of Covid-19. -
22 Sep 2020
The South China Sea map that wasn’t
A mistake? Maybe. But a US map of Vietnam including the Paracel and Spratly islands raises big questions. -
21 Sep 2020
Ginsburg’s pendulum
Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a deep faith in America’s capacity for self-correction. Her absence puts it to the test. -
20 Sep 2020
America’s breaking point?
The fear is that Trump appoints a judge to decide his electoral fate and then calls on the military to enforce it. -
16 Sep 2020
Where the US went wrong in the pandemic
Public health in America is inherently a political issue. It didn’t need to be a partisan one. -
16 Sep 2020
Trump’s gambit in the Balkans
Drawing down troops from Germany one day, inserting the US into the Serbia-Kosovo dispute the next. What’s at play? -
14 Sep 2020
Cut! How Hollywood self-censors on China
The Disney remake of Mulan has put Hollywood in an uncomfortable spotlight of its own. -
9 Sep 2020
America: Demographic shift to democratic redemption
Larger forces at play in the US make this an election more akin to the experience in 2012 than that of 2016. -
7 Sep 2020
Pandemic democracy
Voting is based on trust between citizens and their government. In an age of social distancing, such faith is tested. -
3 Sep 2020
A Biden presidency and the US–South Korea alliance
Can Joe Biden, if elected, heal the rift between the two countries, or will he make it worse? -
28 Aug 2020
A diplomatic breakdown over “snapback” tests the UN
Dispute over a US call for pre-2015 Iran sanctions has pushed the Security Council to its limit. It’s been there before. -
27 Aug 2020
Indo-Pacific strategy: Before justifying the means, identify the ends
Facing uncertainty of where “strategic competition” is headed, first look for the ideal outcome. -
26 Aug 2020
America’s very unusual conventions
Following on the Democrats’ big show of unity last week, Republicans hit the screens this week to remake their leader. -
21 Aug 2020
Hidden seams in the UAE-Israel deal
It’s all about Iran, right? Actually, the agreement has more to do with managing the US and China.