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Hillary Rodham Clinton today <\/span>delivered her speech<\/span><\/a> to close the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and in doing so made history (herstory?) as the first woman to officially clinch a major party\u2019s nomination for President of the United States. It\u2019s been a huge week for <\/span>#DemsInPhilly<\/span><\/a>, with well-received speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden (\u2018<\/span>malarkey!\u2019<\/span><\/a>), Tim Kaine, Lena Dunham, Michael Bloomberg and a stack of others.\u00a0Here’s the fact-check<\/a>\u00a0on HRC’s speech.\u00a0As with #RNCinCLE, superbrain Andrew Sullivan was closely tracking developments for <\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> magazine (nights <\/span>1<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>2<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>3<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>4<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0Having been on the public radar since her Wellesley commencement address 47 years ago, plenty has been said and spilled about Clinton. One piece that’s particularly worthwhile weekend reading is <\/span>Hating Hillary<\/span><\/a>, a 1996 profile published in <\/span>The New Yorker<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n If you needed a reminder that The Donald has <\/span>no serious international advisors<\/span><\/a>, look no further than his <\/span>off-the-chain comments<\/span><\/a> inviting Russia to meddle in the US election process. The piece in The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0was the\u00a0most commented on article<\/a> in the masthead’s\u00a0history.\u00a0The astounding development was captured by two\u00a0editorials in The Times<\/em><\/span>, first in <\/span>reaction to Trump\u2019s announcement<\/span><\/a>, and then on the <\/span>Putin\u2013Trump admiration society<\/span><\/a>. (Also, the Putin\u2013Trump fallacy<\/a> in the\u00a0NYRB<\/em>.)\u00a0<\/span>Vox <\/span><\/i>has <\/span>an explainer<\/a>, while\u00a0DefenseOne<\/em> has a piece on Putin’s ‘best summer ever’<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Two useful terrorism picks this week. First, <\/span>CNN <\/span><\/i>has done some legwork to <\/span>map ISIS\u2019s actions and impact<\/span><\/a>, with the headline finding that 143 attacks in 29 countries (other than Iraq and Syria) have killed 2,043 people. (Related: this NYT<\/em> interactive on the human toll of terror<\/a>.) And second, Anthony Cordesman of CSIS has published a new report on <\/span>terror trends and metrics in 2016<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The National Bureau of Asian Research has been pumping out the goods this week with three excellent new reports on developments in the Asia\u2013Pacific. The latest edition of the Bureau\u2019s<\/span> peer-reviewed journal <\/span>Asia Policy<\/span><\/i><\/a> was released earlier this week, and includes pieces on Sino-Indian strategic competition in the Ocean, Chinese economic diplomacy and how Japan might securitize the TPP, among many others. Be sure to keep an eye out for a couple of ANU heavies offering their thoughts. A second piece of analysis looks at the<\/span> prospects of improving US\u2013ROK\u2013Japan trilateralism<\/span><\/a> and offers some policy recommendations pitched at the three countries\u2019 leadership, and the third examines<\/span> the impacts of low oil prices<\/span><\/a> on the Asia\u2013Pacific\u2019s natural gas sector.<\/span><\/p>\n Also in the region, for the second time this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has reshuffled his cabinet, booting out 13 ministers who were either overly invested in reformist policies or involved in public controversies. Significantly for Canberra, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong has been demoted after attempting to reform Indonesia\u2019s protectionist stance on trade\u2014with potential implications for the FTA Indonesia and Australia<\/span> hoped to finalise by 2017<\/span><\/a>. For a good run-down on who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out, check out<\/span> this commentary from RSIS<\/span><\/a>, along with <\/span>this wider overview<\/span><\/a> of Jokowi\u2019s balancing act between the interests of reformists and elites from Future Directions.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, <\/span>an open letter <\/span><\/a>from someone who is definitely not Vladimir Putin urging American voters to vote Trump, and #NeverHillary. And a piece\u00a0from someone who <\/span>definitely isn\u2019t Hillary Clinton<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcast<\/b><\/p>\n The excellent <\/span>Global Dispatches<\/span><\/i> podcast had an interview<\/span><\/a> (30 mins) earlier this month featuring UN Secretary General candidate and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark. Clark delves into her pathway to politics and some of the most significant foreign policy decisions she made during her time as PM. (A little closer to home, Kevin Rudd\u2019s own bid for the UN\u2019s top job took a nose-dive today as <\/span>the PM ruled out<\/span><\/a> nominating K-Rudd for the position. See <\/span>this piece from Greg Sheridan<\/span><\/a> on why we\u2019re at \u2018a truly pathetic moment.\u2019)<\/span><\/p>\n Videos<\/b><\/p>\n To mark the release of their recent report on <\/span>male guardianship in Saudi Arabia<\/span><\/a>, Human Rights Watch has pulled together a series of snappy cartoon vids to illustrate their advocacy. The spots are available <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, along with a piece which captures the practical impacts of the law.<\/span><\/p>\n This week, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford gave a press conference on US goals in the fight against Daesh and the potential escalation of military cooperation with Russia on the ground in Syria. Check out <\/span>footage of the briefing here <\/span><\/a>(36 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Canberra: Want to get your head around how India is viewing Beijing\u2019s One Belt One Road and Maritime Silk Road initiatives? Look no further than the ANU\u2019s upcoming event with Jayant Prasad, Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. Head along <\/span>next Wednesday evening<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n