FONOPs send a message — but they don’t speak for themselves Making the case for rules can dispel a common misunderstanding that promoting freedom on the seas is about power. This article by Kim Heriot-Darragh first appeared in The Interpreter, published by the Lowy Institute on Wednesday 24 April 2024. Image: Bill Chizek via Shutterstock […]
First Nations Southeast Asia Economic Strategy Dialogue On 10 April 2024, First Nations Foreign Policy Fellow Sarah Leary joined a gathering of First Nations business leaders from across Australia at a First Nations Southeast Asia Economic Strategy Dialogue, co-hosted by the Noongar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade […]
What India’s defence reforms mean for Australia — and India This article by Kim Heriot-Darragh was originally published in The Strategist on Thursday 4 April 2024. Image: PradeepGaurs via Shutterstock India’s military is likely to establish several new joint commands this year in one of the most significant restructures in its history. The country is […]
First Nations trade and investment – getting the fundamentals right By Sarah Leary Next week is shaping up to be a significant one for First Nations exporters, suppliers and entrepreneurs across Australia, including those from Western Australia. First Nations trade and investment will soon feature as a standalone agenda item when Australia’s Ministerial Council on […]
‘Beyond Utopia’, Beyond Wishes By Professor Gordon Flake On 27 March 2024, the Perth USAsia Centre hosted a public ‘in-conversation’ on North Korea. I was honoured to join Professor Rüdiger Frank of the University of Vienna, founder of the European Centre for North Korean Studies, and Jasmin Diab CSC, President of Women in Nuclear Australia […]
Failing to seize the moment European policymakers are currently not leveraging the full potential of the EU-ASEAN partnership. They should learn from Australia’s approach. This article by Dr Pia Dannhauer was originally published by International Politics and Society (IPS) Journal on 15 March 2024. In early March, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations […]
Exploring Quad+ cooperation By Dr Pia Dannhauer The Quad is a diplomatic network of four countries – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – committed to supporting an open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. The Quad mechanism is not a formal alliance. Nonetheless, it allows its members to shape their strategic environment – and to […]
The View from Australia: Strategic Competition in the Indian Ocean By Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy That the Indo-Pacific region is facing unprecedented strategic uncertainty is now a core tenet of Australian foreign policy. Mostly, Australian policy makers’ attention has been on the places where those uncertainties (code for Chinese military build-up and opaque lending) are being […]
Indian Ocean Security Conference 2024 Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 February 2024 The importance of moving beyond policy buzzwords toward concrete thinking and action in support of regional interests was a key theme at the Pathfinder Foundation’s Indian Ocean Security Conference in Sri Lanka on 28-29 February. Dr Arnab Das of India’s Maritime Research Centre […]
Second, all the countries in attendance were worried about critical and emerging technologies – about the destabilising potential of Artificial Intelligence, mis- and dis-information and cyber warfare, and the challenges of developing renewable energy technologies at a global scale. China was not present but loomed large in all of these conversations. Speakers worried about China’s […]