The arrival of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, which has killed 3.5 million people and counting, should have been the moment when the World Health Organization came into its own. This is its primary …
A century ago, an influenza pandemic killed more people than died in World War I. Today, the Covid-19 pandemic has killed more Americans than died in all US wars since 1945. A big difference, however, …
Australia has closed its Afghanistan embassy before its military involvement ends as part of the United States–Taliban peace deal for the withdrawal of all foreign troops by 11 September 2021. While that’s not unexpected, Australia …
Climate change has emerged as a rare zone of cooperation and civility between China and the West this year, but it remains to be seen if this will last through to, or beyond, the 26th …
Indigenous perspectives are rarely foregrounded in national policy debates. Australia has a long history of imposing solutions on First Nations communities and expecting increased economic participation and social inclusion to follow. This is a domain …
The World Health Assembly met last week amid a slew of proposals—most recently from the United Nations Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response—to create stronger, enforceable global rules for tackling future infectious disease outbreaks. …
The withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan and the planned closure of the embassy in Kabul will complicate the task of investigators gathering evidence to prosecute soldiers alleged to have committed war crimes. After a …
There can be little doubt Australia’s strategic environment has evolved significantly in recent years. Across the Indo-Pacific, we now face a region characterised by a broad spectrum of geopolitical influences, from conflict and contest at …
One of the difficult things about being Taiwan is the lack of normal government-to-government interaction. Taiwan is diplomatically recognised by only 15 countries, so it is dealt with informally in most of its international interactions. …
When it comes to economic growth, Europe has been lagging behind the world’s other major economic powers—the United States and China—for some time. No surprise, then, that the old continent’s relative weight in the global …
Given the scale of the threats Australia may face in an uncertain future, the nation needs to seriously reconsider how it will defend itself, strategist Albert Palazzo has warned. That will mean a major switch …
It’s been a year and a half since we started living with—and too often dying from—Covid-19. Although the pandemic is by no means over, it’s not too soon to take a step back and draw …
In this special episode for Africa Day, ASPI’s Lisa Sharland speaks to Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Martin Kimani. They discuss Kenya’s role on the UN Security Council, multilateralism via Zoom and counterterrorism. …
ASPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. This series looks at ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. When ASPI was launched, intense argument raged between Australia’s regionalists and globalists. Old arguments took on …
Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern will prove the Australia–New Zealand travel bubble works when they meet in Queenstown next week. Breathless commentary suggests it’s going to be a difficult meeting over China policy, but that’s …
President Joe Biden’s statement this week of an ‘investigation into the origins of Covid-19’ shows that the US intelligence community is making progress towards uncovering whether the virus was released because of a ‘laboratory accident’ …
Another round of fighting between Israel and Hamas has ended in a shaky ceasefire, with both sides claiming victory, as was the case with the two previous ceasefires since 2008. Israel justified its massive bombardment …
In 2034, a small American flotilla on a routine ‘freedom of navigation’ patrol in the South China Sea encounters an unflagged trawler in distress, with smoke billowing from its bridge. What follows is far from …
As Australia moves through the stages of recovery from Covid-19, we’re increasingly urged in mainstream and social media to support local, visit local and live local. From Mudgee to Mildura, Batemans Bay to Bundaberg and …
Let’s see if we can spot a contradiction here. On 25 April, Defence Minister Peter Dutton told the ABC war with China over Taiwan could not be ruled out. He did not need to add …