Global Issues

If there really is a marketplace for ideas, it’s fair to say that central planning hasn’t been flying off the shelves of late. It’s not hard to see why. The murderous regimes of Stalin and Mao are not good advertisements for the brand, or for the possible merits of socialism, for that matter.

Australia’s former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called for “solidarity” with Taiwan in the face of China’s “intimidatory sorties” testing its air defences. As the war drum incessantly beats, would a war against China to defend Taiwan be legal? For all the abstract talk about a rules-

Ho Chi Minh City and the wider south in Vietnam finished its 24-hour-a-day Covid-19 lockdown of three months last week, allowing people to venture out to buy food rather than wait for soldiers to coordinate deliveries to their homes. Soldiers had manned barricades between precincts as part of social

The effects of sea-level rise for islands are real and increasing attention is being given to the emerging international legal issues. The World Bank last week released a new report that put a further spotlight on the legal issues facing Pacific atoll nations. These range from the effects on

China’s fast-growing logistical and scientific capability in Antarctica and more active participation in Antarctic affairs continue to draw attention and scrutiny. In recent years, China has notably spoken about striking a “balance between protection and use” in the Commission for the

Street art has been much discussed across Indonesia’s airwaves in the last couple of months. Three spray-painted murals expressing a critical perspective on the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic were quickly covered over by officials, igniting heated debates about free expression

As the Taliban takes control of Afghanistan, violence is once more widespread across the country. Global awareness of the oppression of women and girls under the Taliban is well known; less understood is the persecution of Hazaras. As one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the Hazara

On 7 September, leaders from the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened the 1st Africa CARICOM Summit. This landmark event had been a long time coming, held virtually after being delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic – but far longer overdue, considering the

In a surprise move, Myanmar’s ruling military junta announced on 6 September the release from prison of Ashin Wirathu, a controversial Buddhist monk whose sermons have been blamed for inciting anti-Muslim violence over the last decade. In a statement, the military said it had dropped charges

Some months ago, I was part of a special ocean and culture story-telling workshop on my home island of Erromango, in southern Vanuatu. There, I listened to traditional elders recount ancient sea wisdom and oral histories about ocean connections with other islands, passed down through generations

Erin O’Toole, the leader of Canada’s Conservative party, warned in August that Canadian citizens might not be safe at the winter Olympics to be hosted next year in Beijing. Canada is especially aggrieved over what is widely seen as China’s practice of arbitrary arrest – although in truth “

Indonesia is feeling a little ignored. The recent visit by US Vice President Kamal Harris to Vietnam and Singapore led to speculation that Indonesia was not a priority for the Biden administration. “Snubbed again, Joe?” read one local headline. A few weeks beforehand, US Defence Secretary Lloyd

Australia is experiencing a series of cascading crises. While the most immediate is the Covid-19 pandemic, the global and regional strategic order in which it has so comfortably lived for decades is currently undergoing a significant shift. These compounding crises have challenged policy frameworks

Lapped by clear waters, Chios is one of five main islands wedged in the northern Aegean Sea, a stone’s throw from Turkey. Seen from the plane, the island’s interior is dotted with quaint olive groves and walled medieval villages. On the jagged coastline stone watchtowers perch facing out to sea

As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds, more than 130,000 vaccines donated by the global facility COVAX doses have expired in Papua New Guinea. PNG is Australia’s largest aid recipient and is currently using AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Australia, New Zealand and COVAX for its first phase of a

Outlining the Biden administration’s approach to China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that the United States would be “competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be”. Climate change looked like an obvious vector for bilateral

In the 1950s, an unlikely friendship grew between US medical researcher Albert Sabin and Soviet microbiologist and virologist Mikhail Chumakov. Their mutual trust and esteem resulted in a US developed vaccine against crippling polio being tested on millions of people in the Soviet Union.

Questions about what Western governments wish Syria to become ­– including where it fits in terms of their strategic interests, its humanitarian and population movement ramifications, and the values to which those governments pay lip service – have never been directed with the vigour they

Across Myanmar, the battle continues between the military and those opposed to the military coup d’etat of 1 February 2021. Opposition to the coup began with non-violent resistance in the form of the Civil Disobedience Movement. The aim is now revolution and an end to the military’s decades-long

One of the unexpected benefits of studying abroad for an extended period is the new perspective it brings to understanding your own country. Certainly, my first two years of study abroad in Tokyo the 1980s, in pre-internet times, taught me things about Australia that I didn’t know, like just how