The People’s Liberation Army turned 91 today amid the Chinese media’s self-congratulatory cacophony. To be sure, China has a lot to be proud of—the PLA has become one of the most powerful militaries in the …
After Pakistan’s recent election, Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are now forming a new government. As usual, it will be greeted by an economic crisis. A trip, cap in hand, to the …
On 1 July, the Australian Space Agency, led by Dr Megan Clark AC, officially opened for business. In the May 2018 budget, the Australian government allocated $41 million over four years to fund the establishment …
For very good reasons, maritime security concerns, particularly those centred on the South China Sea, have featured prominently in ASEAN member states’ individual and collective agendas over the last decade. The 10 ASEAN nations face …
US President Donald Trump’s inability to think strategically is undermining longstanding relationships, upending the global order, and accelerating the decline of his country’s global influence—or so the increasingly popular wisdom goes. But this assessment is …
Sea state China has announced its intent to deepen military cooperation with Sri Lanka by giving it a frigate and continuing to train the Sri Lankan military. The announcement comes amid escalating competition between China …
The import and export of goods and services between the European Union and the United States forms the ‘largest bilateral trade and investment relationship’ on the planet. According to the European Commission, the US invests …
Much of the argument for building warships and submarines in Australia ultimately rests on the rather dubious logic that we’re on an island surrounded by water. But Australia is also surrounded by air, yet nobody …
The results of last week’s national and provincial elections in Pakistan came as a surprise to most analysts (including me). And while everyone expected that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), the incumbent governing party …
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s provocative speech on 22 July that attacked Iran’s leadership and policies, and prompted a brief but hostile exchange between President Hassan Rouhani and President Donald Trump about the threat …
Donald Trump’s presidency reminds me of nothing so much as the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. At the height of the violence, a Serb friend said to me, ‘I don’t like [Slobodan] Milošević. I …
To serve Australia’s interests, influence and values in the Asia–Pacific, we need a new entity, an Australian International Broadcasting Corporation. The review of Australia’s media reach in the Asia–Pacific (submissions close at 5 pm AEST …
The world Imran Khan claimed victory in Pakistan’s controversial elections. The BBC has a great explainer on the former cricket star and the challenges he’s set to face. DW offers a pessimistic view of Khan’s …
The devastating floods we’ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator of the kinds of challenges we’re facing as a result of a changing climate. The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan killed …
US President Donald Trump’s summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki are history, as is the G7 summit in Quebec and the NATO summit in Brussels. …
Warning: This post contains specialist language. For a glossary of terms, see here. The Tour de France might be one of the best ways of understanding shifts in global security and the implications of those …
Sino-African relations have been of increasing interest to analysts since the turn of the century—in large part because the relationship is a measure of how the Chinese hope to use their burgeoning economic power in …
The beat Privacy concerns in Toronto gunshot-detector purchase The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has asked the Toronto city council to delay voting on a funding proposal for ShotSpotter technology, an investment unanimously approved by …
The flag of the Syrian government was raised again over central Deraa on 12 July, more than seven years after the first popular demonstrations against the Assad regime broke out in the city in March …
If the Australia–US alliance were a family car, then this year’s AUSMIN was a very successful routine-maintenance period. That’s good news in comparison with other US allies’ engagements with America’s leaders recently (think G7, NATO, …