![\"5637984028_d0e779620c_z\"](\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/5637984028_d0e779620c_z.jpg\" "\\"Image")
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Marking International Women\u2019s Day this week\u00a0<\/span>The Economist<\/span><\/i> released their annual glass-ceiling index, which seeks to show where women have the \u2018best chances of equal treatment at work’. The\u00a0<\/span>interactive index<\/span><\/a> reveals that Australia still has quite a way to go, receiving 46.7 points out of a possible 100\u2014below the OECD average and in the bottom third of countries assessed for the feature. South Korea and Japan are the only other Asia\u2013Pacific nations in the index, receiving the second and third lowest rankings respectively, thanks to low levels of tertiary education, workplace participation and seniority among females when compared with their male counterparts. Read more about the glass-ceiling index<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Sticking\u00a0with<\/span> #IWD2016<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Foreign Policy <\/span><\/i>has pulled together a helpful list of<\/span> 7 Rules for Avoiding All-Male Panel<\/span><\/a>s\u2014a phenomenon with its own<\/span> lively Twitter hashtag<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Tumblr awareness-raising\/shaming effort<\/span><\/a>. This<\/span> piece on Sweden\u2019s Foreign Minister (and the country\u2019s feminist foreign policy)<\/span><\/a> came out in <\/span>The New Yorker <\/span><\/i>near on a year ago, but\u00a0remains a worthwhile read. The feminist foreign policy tag is also attached to<\/span> this <\/span>Foreign Affairs<\/span><\/i> review<\/span><\/a> of a new book out on Hillary Rodham Clinton\u2019s efforts advocating for women during her stint as Secretary of State. War is Boring<\/em> checks in on the Pentagon’s\u00a0pilot program to protect the fertility of their soldiers, through both pre-deployment cryogenic\u00a0freezing of eggs and sperm and the development of gender-appropriate combat gear. Hats off to our friends at <\/span>The Interpreter <\/span><\/i>for their all-star, all-female line-up on Tuesday (including two of our former<\/span> ASPI<\/span><\/a> colleagues<\/span><\/a>). Finally, we commend to you<\/span> Foreign Policy Interrupted<\/span><\/a>, which puts in a stellar effort to<\/span> promote women\u2019s voices<\/span><\/a> in a professional landscape dominated by men. Sign up for their<\/span> cracking weekly newsletter<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Today marks the 5th anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan\u2019s Tohoku region that triggered an enormous tsunami and the nuclear meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. ABC\u2019s Mark Willacy offers a touching<\/span> first-person account<\/span><\/a> and photo essay of the ongoing hunt for the 2,572 victims who remain missing half a decade later, while<\/span> this series at <\/span>The Japan Times<\/span><\/i><\/a> looks at the human and economic impacts of the\u00a0triple disaster. <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i>, too,\u00a0<\/span>profiles Fukushima survivors and business owners<\/span><\/a>. East Asia Forum<\/em> offers some insightful analysis in these<\/span> two<\/span><\/a> pieces<\/span><\/a>, which detail Japan\u2019s struggle to come to terms with the magnitude of the disaster which killed 20,000 in mere minutes. And finally,<\/span> The Wall Street Journal <\/span><\/i>offers some insights<\/span><\/a> into the long road ahead when it comes to\u00a0decommissioning the nuclear plant, with a projected end date of 2061. The Atlantic<\/em> has a collection of photos<\/a> of the disaster, relief effort and ongoing recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n Across two pieces in <\/span>The New York Review of Books<\/span><\/i>, Mark Lilla explores France\u2019s battles with Islamic extremism.<\/span> His first<\/span><\/a>, an essay, examines France\u2019s social and political <\/span>maladies<\/span><\/i> as the country seeks to meet its recent challenges. In<\/span> his second<\/span><\/a> he reflects on four recently published books on terror, integration and Islamophobia in the land of <\/span>libert\u00e9<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>\u00e9galit\u00e9<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>fraternit\u00e9<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n As the US presidential race rolls on, top notch analysis of the superpower\u2019s politics, policy and philosophy has continued to proliferate across a number of forums. It\u2019d be hard to ignore<\/span> Jeffrey Goldberg\u2019s exhaustive profile for\u00a0The Atlantic\u00a0<\/i>of President Obama<\/span><\/a> and the set of foreign policy principles that\u2019ve come to be known as the Obama Doctrine<\/span>. Also worth a\u00a0read is<\/span> Anthony Cordesman\u2019s piece at CSIS<\/span><\/a> which breaks down Goldberg\u2019s take on the Obama Doctrine into key strategic areas;<\/span>\u00a0David Frum\u2019s piece<\/span><\/a>, also at <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i>, which discusses the extent of Obama\u2019s disappointment in his global counterparts, and<\/span> this\u00a0effort\u00a0at <\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i><\/a> which underscores the President\u2019s frustration with free riding allies in Europe and the Persian Gulf. And because it wouldn\u2019t be <\/span>Suggests<\/span><\/i> without a Trump pick, check out<\/span> this list of five world leaders<\/span><\/a> who would benefit from the policies of President Drumpf<\/a>\u2014and pay particular attention to The Donald’s\u00a0decision to give Kim Jong-un props for \u2018ruthlessly consolidating his leadership\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcasts<\/b><\/p>\n Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne continues his excellent podcast series <\/span>Talking Indonesia<\/span><\/i> with an interview with Dr Matthew Wai-Poi, a former World Bank economist. This week\u2019s installment looks at Indonesia\u2019s record-breaking inequality levels, and how Jokowi\u2019s policies approaches\u00a0differ from those of his predecessor, SBY. Have a listen<\/span> here<\/span><\/a> (30 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n CSIS\u2019 Ritu Sharma and World Faith\u2019s Grace Patterson feature in this week\u2019s <\/span>Smart Women, Smart Power<\/span><\/i> podcast, which focuses on the rise of religious extremism in young people, and surveys the\u00a0global efforts to\u00a0steer them away from that path. It\u2019s a heavy topic, but for CT wonks in particular,<\/span>\u00a0it’s\u00a0definitely worth a\u00a0listen<\/span><\/a> (33 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Videos<\/b><\/p>\n VICE News <\/span><\/i>this week sat down with Victor Cha to discuss the state of the Kim regime in the DPRK and the the threat that the hermit kingdom poses in the wake of its 2016 nuclear testing. Check out the interview<\/span> here<\/span><\/a> (13 mins), along with\u00a0VICE<\/em>\u2019s excellent line-up of<\/span> background reading on North Korea<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Also this week we\u2019ve got two offerings from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. Late last week, they hosted the 22nd CSIS\u2013JIIA US\u2013Japan Security Seminar to<\/span> survey the state of what is an increasingly mature and global alliance<\/span><\/a> (1 hour 56 mins). And this week CSIS held a half-day<\/span> Defense360<\/span><\/a> conference on the<\/span> latest US defence budget request and strategic priorities<\/span><\/a> (1 hour 26 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Melbourne: In advance of President Obama\u2019s historic visit to Havana this month, the Victorian branch of the Australian Institute of International Affairs will host Cuba\u2019s Ambassador to Australia, H.E. Mr Jose Manuel Galego Montano, to consider the Caribbean nation\u2019s relationship with the US, it\u2019s integration into the global economy and the potential of\u00a0Cuba\u2013Australia relations. Mark your diaries for<\/span> Thursday 17 March<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Canberra: In a public lecture at ANU\u2019s<\/span> Coral Bell School on 21 March<\/span><\/a>, Bradley Thayer of the University of Iceland will make a case\u00a0to expand the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to include China, in an effort to encourage Russia\u2019s compliance with the Treaty, and to reduce the likelihood of an arms race in the Asia\u2013Pacific. Register here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marking International Women\u2019s Day this week\u00a0The Economist released their annual glass-ceiling index, which seeks to show where women have the \u2018best chances of equal treatment at work’. The\u00a0interactive index reveals that Australia still has quite …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":25315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[478],"tags":[176,276,135,86,1002],"class_list":["post-25314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aspi-suggests","tag-barack-obama","tag-extremism","tag-japan","tag-north-korea","tag-women"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n