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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 28 Feb 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Myanmar
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Australia was quick to sanction Moscow. Why not Myanmar?

    Jessica Collins
    It was right to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But that’s different to military aggression much closer to home.
  • 25 Feb 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • United Nations
    • Russia
    • Africa
    • Ukraine

    Why was it left to Kenya to speak up for multilateralism?

    Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo
    Kenya’s UN envoy Martin Kimani was a sensation at an emergency Security Council session—with a message for all nations.
  • 17 Dec 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Review

    The multilateralism menu: The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Teesta Prakash
    Want a slice of the regional pie? Or to understand the spaghetti strands of national ambition? We’ve just the dish.
  • 14 Dec 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom

    Why isn’t Australia putting diplomacy first?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Canberra is out of step with its key allies with one of the most potent tools its international arsenal.
  • 9 Nov 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Do Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships matter?

    Henry Storey
    Scott Morrison is an enthusiast. But Australia’s one with China proved little more than the proverbial “scrap of paper”.
  • 8 Nov 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • France

    Sinking trust

    Sian Troath
    Sparing between Scott Morrison and Emmanuel Macron is about more than a broken deal but the manner it was conveyed.
  • 13 Oct 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Coronavirus

    Zooming out of digital diplomacy

    Jeffrey Robertson
    It’s time to think beyond the videoconference to allow countries to trust again.
  • 27 Aug 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Sex and Gender

    Australia and LGBTQI rights

    Kate Clayton
    Canberra needs a loud and proud foreign policy on the human rights of gender and sexual minorities.
  • 26 Aug 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Afghanistan War
    • Afghanistan
    • Australia
    • International law

    What’s in a name? The Taliban and recognition under international law

    Donald R Rothwell
    Formal recognition as a legitimate government may be a bargaining chip to press the Taliban to respect human rights.
  • 11 Aug 2021
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy

    Pandemic plight of international students will leave Australia poorer

    Aaron Soans
    Lonely days during an education abroad will deplete Australia’s soft power reserves.
  • 6 Aug 2021
    • Pacific Islands
    • Diplomacy
    • United States

    Refreshing American soft power in the Pacific Islands

    Moses Sakai , Patrick Kaiku
    Tales of past wars no longer resonate. The US has better stories to tell, not least of its own stumbles with democracy.
  • 29 Jul 2021
    • Global Economy
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Economic diplomacy: Going for gold in 20 years and counting

    Greg Earl
    Brisbane will host the Olympics in 2032 but the starter’s gun has already sounded in the cost versus benefits contest.
  • 28 Jul 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • China

    Far more world leaders visit China than America

    Neil Thomas
    If leadership diplomacy was an Olympic sport, Beijing beats Washington to the gold medal.
  • 9 Jul 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Australia

    The changing face of Australia’s diplomatic network

    Nicholas Bosworth
    A stocktake shows rising political appointments but Australia’s heads of mission now far better reflect the population.
  • 7 Jul 2021
    • Public Opinion
    • Diplomacy

    Personality in foreign policy

    Daniel Flitton
    How leaders interact and are judged can shape a country’s approach to the world as much as economics or military might.
  • 2 Jul 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australian Development Assistance
    • Australia
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Sex and Gender

    Forgiveness not permission: A feminist foreign policy

    Alice Ridge , Joanna Pradela
    If Australia wants to adopt a values-based approach to the world, the next step is obvious.
  • 15 Jun 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • China

    Australia’s China politics heats up

    James Laurenceson
    The “bad strategy” towards Beijing is exposed as the gloves come off in Australia’s domestic foreign policy debates.
  • 9 Jun 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • China

    China overtakes America in presidential diplomacy

    Neil Thomas
    Memo for the White House: You should get out more.
  • 25 May 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Indonesia
    • Human rights
    • Papua New Guinea

    PNG can’t turn a blind eye to the conflict next door

    Leanne Jorari
    As popular support for West Papua grows more vocal, PNG officials walk a diplomatic tightrope.
  • 24 May 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Asean
    • Myanmar

    ASEAN’s huge gamble on Myanmar

    Chen Lee
    If it doesn’t move quickly on its hard-won consensus, the organisation risks letting the junta call the shots.
  • 18 May 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • China-Australia Relations
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • China
    • Australia–New Zealand

    A rare test of China diplomacy

    Elliott Zaagman
    Australia and New Zealand provide a case for whether it pays to be nice – or if it’s simply not worth bothering.
  • 6 May 2021
    • Global Economy
    • Diplomacy
    • The Trans-Pacific Partnership
    • United States
    • India-Australia Relations
    • Australia's Trade
    • Australia's Economy
    • China
    • Technology
    • International law

    Economic diplomacy: Patent politics and trade deal twists

    Greg Earl
    President Biden moves to suspend vaccine patents, RCEP ramps up, IA-CEPA gets a lesson and US dollar reserves tank.
  • 30 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • China
    • Climate change

    China’s climate pivot could reshape the economic future

    Stephen Minas
    Many of the same arguments persist as international climate negotiations enter a fourth decade. But actions matter.
  • 26 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Asean
    • Myanmar
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights

    Indonesia raises ASEAN’s bar on Myanmar

    Ben Bland
    President Joko Widodo had nothing to gain domestically in calling a special summit. But in not failing, he succeeded.
  • 21 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • China
    • Technology
    • United States

    China’s Twitter trolls make bid for vacant Trump property

    Elliott Zaagman
    “Own the libs” obnoxiousness failed, but China’s social media diplomats haven’t all got the memo.
  • 20 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • Climate change
    • International law

    “America’s back” in the Paris Agreement. For how long?

    Nicholas Chan
    Climate politics is enjoying an optimistic moment, but a Trumpist rerun would be ruinous for environmental diplomacy.
  • 14 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • North Korea

    With Olympic snub, North Korea returns to isolation

    André Leslie
    Pyongyang’s decision to skip the Tokyo games is part of a broader retreat back to the international wilderness.
  • 1 Apr 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Coronavirus

    Why not try? What a Papua New Guinean team could bring to the NRL

    Leanne Jorari
    Covid-19 has sapped PNG of excitement. But in the years to come, people’s love of footy offers a common rally point.
  • 30 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Sex and Gender

    Australia must walk the talk on women’s rights – globally and at home

    Leanne Smith
    It’s not just local politics. Australia’s credibility with a feminist foreign policy, in name or not, is on the line.
  • 23 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • South Korea

    When a middle power is not caught in the middle

    Jeffrey Robertson
    Different understandings of the world where a middle power sits has led South Korea down a different path to Australia.
  • 22 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • Malaysia

    North Korea and Malaysia’s predictable diplomatic divorce

    James Chin
    Pyongyang is sending a message in typically overbearing style. But the target is as much the US as it is Malaysia.
  • 15 Mar 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Asean
    • Australia
    • China
    • India
    • Japan

    A new “concert” to govern the Indo-Pacific

    Pang Zhongying
    For Quad leaders emphasising an “inclusive” region, there may be a ready-made example for involving China.
  • 12 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Iran

    Iran: Could Australia’s hostage diplomacy have been better?

    Ian Parmeter
    A public campaign by Australia’s government to try to shame Iran into freeing Kylie Moore-Gilbert would not have worked.
  • 5 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Review

    Her brilliant career

    Michael Wesley
    An entertaining and informative memoir about a woman’s career through a deeply patriarchal profession in diplomacy.
  • 23 Feb 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Australia
    • New Zealand

    Terrorism and New Zealand’s dual citizenship conundrum

    Rodger Shanahan
    This is an age in which dual nationality is widespread, and problems related to alleged ISIS members were foreseeable.
  • 19 Feb 2021
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    What happened to Australia’s “soft power”?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    A review of soft power was trumpeted as a chance to increase Australia’s persuasive force. So why was it abandoned?
  • 16 Feb 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • India
    • Canada
    • Coronavirus

    India, Canada and the new vaccine politics

    Grant Wyeth
    As a pharmaceutical powerhouse, India finds it now holds the cards over Canada and what it sees as its irksome PM.
  • 12 Feb 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • New Zealand

    Foreign policy’s “Indigenous moment” is here

    James Blackwell
    Australia needs to step up to the challenge.
  • 22 Jan 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • China

    Beijing’s “Wolf Warriors” score own goals

    Peter T Charles
    A confounding kimchi kerfuffle shows the CCP has made people at home hungry for news of China’s dominance.
  • 20 Jan 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • India

    The Irrepressibles tame the Invincibles in their impregnable fortress

    Ramesh Thakur
    A transformative cricket series will do more to strengthen Australia–India bonds than any amount of public diplomacy.
  • 14 Dec 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Indonesia
    • Australia

    Australia-Indonesia relations need to talk the talk

    Melissa Crouch
    Indonesian language programs in Australian universities – a gateway to cultural connection – are disappearing.
  • 9 Dec 2020
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Do politicians really make “excellent envoys”?

    Jeffrey Robertson
    A politician turned plenipotentiary can make a powerful statement. Yet it can also undermine public service neutrality.
  • 7 Dec 2020
    • Global Issues
    • Diplomacy
    • United Nations

    Solve generational problems by listening to the youth who’ll live them

    Caitlin Mollica , Helen Berents
    Developing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda in the Asia-Pacific is a chance to ensure lasting change.
  • 3 Dec 2020
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    More pollies in more posts

    Daniel Flitton
    Are changing contours of global power or suspicions of the “swamp” driving more politicians to fill key diplomatic jobs?
  • 1 Dec 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • China
    • Technology

    We’ve been trolled – expect more of it, because it worked

    Damien Spry
    Here’s how Scott Morrison might have responded to China’s online provocation.
  • 27 Nov 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • China

    Port Adelaide to Shanghai: Sports diplomacy and the long road ahead

    Andrew Hunter
    When a sports club thinks strategically, governments can benefit too.
  • 25 Nov 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • North Korea

    In search of a middle-power rethink on North Korea policy

    Jeffrey Robertson
    An international commission could potentially transform an outdated and failed approach to the Korean peninsula.
  • 25 Nov 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • International Relations
    • Russia

    A Biden presidency and US-Russia relations

    Ian Hill
    The new US administration will certainly push back harder on the Kremlin, but there may also be chances for engagement.
  • 19 Nov 2020
    • Europe
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • China
    • South Korea

    Beijing’s bad books: Australia can learn from Norway and South Korea

    Henry Storey
    China’s coercive diplomacy is not new. Other countries have managed to repair ties after a perceived slight.
  • 12 Nov 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Japan

    Japan-Australia: The chance to sweeten the deal

    Donna Weeks
    Scott Morrison’s trip to Tokyo should move beyond a narrow focus on defence to secure the living environment.
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