Today is the anniversary of the takeover of Kabul, and control of Afghanistan, by Taliban forces. It’s been one year since the end of the 20-year war by UN-mandated US-led coalition forces to install and …
In their first-ever joint speech in London last month, the heads of MI5 and the FBI warned business leaders that one of the biggest threats facing advanced economies is a ‘coordinated campaign on a grand scale’ …
If there was a prize for the most quotable comment on international relations so far in 2022, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would be in the running. Responding to criticism of his country’s neutral stance …
Australia’s prime minister has the power to launch a war. The almost unfettered right to take the nation into conflict is a stark and simple statement about our system and our history of wars. The …
Much of the foreign-policy conversation in the United States over the past two weeks has centred on whether House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ought to have visited Taiwan. Her backers point out that there …
Sea state China’s People’s Liberation Army announced fresh military drills near Taiwan on Monday, a day after concluding its largest-ever exercises in six designated areas encircling the island. The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command said the …
The war in Ukraine has put economic sanctions in the global spotlight. The West’s sanctions on Russia are perhaps the most comprehensive ever imposed, limiting trade and investment, restricting energy imports from Russia, closing Western …
A series of global and national events over the past six months, among them Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the emergence of foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy-skin disease in Indonesia, flood- and Covid-19-affected food supply chains, a …
One year on, the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan continues to be marked by extremist brutality in the name of Islam and defiance of the UN-led international demand for an inclusive government and respect for human …
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has a friendlier way of presenting the Chinese Communist Party propaganda department’s talking points than many of Beijing’s wolf warriors, but it’s the same content, just in nicer wrapping. At his …
Whatever we make of the visit to Taiwan by US congressional leader Nancy Pelosi, one good thing to come out of it is that Australians have a much clearer sense of President Xi Jinping’s determination to …
In June, the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group—comprising the heads of national police for Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the UK and the US—revealed that foreign governments were infiltrating organised crime groups to launder money …
China’s ambassador to Australia has justified his country’s missile bombardment of the waters around Taiwan by declaring that the United States ‘fired the first shot’ in allowing House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit …
At a time of worryingly high tensions between the world’s two superpowers, last week’s visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi triggered an aggressive cascade of attacks by the Chinese government …
The government’s announcement of a defence strategic review comes as no surprise. A review of Australia’s force posture was an election commitment it is now following through on. The work intends to build on the …
There’s a lot of myth and mystery surrounding northern Australia. Residents of the Northern Territory revel in the southern states’ characterisation of it as a frontier land. We’re less amused when we’re portrayed as Australia’s …
Like his strategic partner Vladimir Putin in his horrific war in Ukraine, Xi Jinping’s violently aggressive actions in the past few days against Taiwan—and Japan—have revealed how he wants to act in the world. These …
After days of intense negotiations with the Indonesian government, Alphabet, Meta and more than 9,000 technology firms—8,900 of which are local—finally complied with Indonesia’s new licensing regulations last month to avoid being banned from operating …
Sixty-nine years ago, an armistice ended three years of fighting involving the United States, China, South Korea and North Korea. In a speech marking the anniversary, North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, threatened to use …
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his cabinet have already done much to demonstrate Australia’s commitment to continuity and consistency on China policy, and it has been worth watching. With the international system more precarious now …