Australia in the World

Below, a comment from Alex Jones, but first, Sinclaire Prowse, a postgraduate student at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney, writes: An under addressed topic of discussion on the Asian Century White Paper is the implications it holds for the future of Australia's relationship with the

Australia is not alone in thinking seriously about the implications of the Asian century. Discussions at the Lowy Institute's PNG New Voices conference last week debated Papua New Guinea's international choices and place in the Asian century. The participants at our conference had clearly not only

Comment below is from Sam Fairall-Lee. More on this topic from James Goldrick in coming days: Whilst the ongoing debate regarding the various merits of sea control and sea denial has been fascinating to read, and quite frankly well overdue, I'm struck by the fact that the debate so far seems

Stop procrastinating and throw away the typewriters. That's the message from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade's inquiry into Australia's overseas representation, which has just recommended DFAT establish an office of ediplomacy, modeled on that of the US State

Malcolm Cook's post on the near-silence from our tabloid press regarding the Asian Century White Paper put me in mind of a photo I saw recently.  Credit to Christian Price at Flashboard Wars for the pic

The contrast between how broadsheet and tabloid newspapers covered the launch of the Asian Century White Paper on Sunday is telling. The Australian gave it saturation coverage and rolled out its big columnists to provide analysis. The Sydney Morning Herald also provided front-page coverage and

Taste the Asian Century White Paper from the perspectives of process and politics. The machinery stuff (the process) is always interesting in Canberra, and usually revealing. If this had been the Henry Review instead of a White Paper it would have been bigger, bolder, broader, and almost

Tony Healy writes: While I commend the PM for the ambition in her speech, I think she misses the point. The core cultural expertise we need over the next 50 years if we are to maintain the respect of Asian nations and prosper will be in using science. Our English heritage has given us a slight

The relationship with Indonesia is one of six the Government determines as crucial to Australia's future in the new Australia in the Asian Century White Paper. The priority placed on Indonesia mirrors regular Government statements about the importance of bilateral ties and the need to further

The Australian labels it an 'extraordinary public intervention by a serving senior ADF officer', but the national newspaper is only partly right. Today's public comments by Chief of Army (and Interpreter contributor) Lieutenant General David Morrison are unprecedented, but they should not be

Dr John Blaxland is a Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU. As Australia prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, consideration is being given to how best position the Australian Defence Force afterwards. The focus needs to return to Australia's region and particularly

Richard Addiscott is an information security consultant with BAE Systems Stratsec. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the views of his employer. What is cyber warfare and what could it mean to the Australian Defence Force? I hope the 2013 Defence White Paper will address

Dr John Blaxland is a Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU. Myanmar, emerging from a long period as a pariah state, is confounding sceptics with the pace and extent of reform since Senior General Than Shwe handed over power to his successor as president, Thein Sein,

In the third of our series of interviews conducted at the University of Melbourne's Australia Latin America Dialogue, we probe more deeply into the implications of the rise of China for commodity based economies such as Australia and Latin American countries and focus on what we can learn

Australia now has a seat at the two biggest global tables: the G20 and the United Nations Security Council, says Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove. This will increase our international leverage and reputation, and be a source of prestige. However, it will stretch our foreign

Is there a diplomatic dividend to reap from going viral? Or, put another way, will 15 minutes of parliamentary invective deliver more than 15 minutes of global fame for Julia Gillard? From Britain's The Telegraph to Andrew Sullivan's hotly read blog, The Daily Dish; from The New Yorker to

  Tim Dunne is Professor of International Relations in the Asia-Pacific Centre for R2P, University of Queensland. If the editorials in the global media are our guide, then satire took a blow when it was announced that the European Union had won the Nobel Peace Prize. If Luxembourg triumphs

Rear Admiral (ret'd) James Goldrick AM, CSC is a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute. This is the final post in a three-part series. Part 2 challenged claims by Lowy colleague Hugh White that Australia doesn't rely on the sea. Part 1 argued against White's assertion that sea control cannot be

In its quest for a UN Security Council Seat, to be decided by the General Assembly on Thursday, Australia has kept running into Israel and Palestine.  The race for the seat has been with Luxembourg and Finland, but Israel and Palestine have become a fascinating element of the contest for the

Rear Admiral (ret'd) James Goldrick AM, CSC is a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute. In this three-part series he challenges claims by Lowy colleague Hugh White that Australia cannot achieve sea control. Professor Hugh White's article, A Middling Power: Why Australia's defence is all at

Jerry Hofhuis is an intern in the Lowy Institute's International Security Program. Indonesia's military is bolstering border security along the southern region of West Java, in part to address the 'smuggling of migrants to Australia'. An International Crisis Group report on Afghanistan argues 

Tom Hyland is a freelance journalist and former foreign editor of The Age and The Sunday Age. This is the first of a two-part post. When Australian troops go on patrol with the Afghan army, and things turn nasty, who’s in charge? The question, which goes to the heart of  Australia's effort

Following aid-worker Alexandra ('Pippi') Bean's safe departure from Libya last week, Foreign Minister Bob Carr felt compelled last Friday to issue a press release explaining the Australian government's handling of the case, in an attempt to fend off a barrage of criticism from the media, Ms Bean

Brett Biddington is a retired RAAF officer who consults on space and cyberspace matters. In the past five years, Australian policy makers in and beyond Defence have devoted a lot more attention to Australia's interest in space and to developing appropriate policy settings. Since December 2008,