West Asia

I like the independence of Canadian policy in the Middle East on some big issues. Exhibit A has to be the decision to refuse to join the US-led invasion of Iraq. Canadian independence of action is once again on display over the question of Syria. When President Obama gave the Syrian opposition

Below is an omnibus reply to Stephen Walt, Tzvi Fleischer, Crispin Rovere and Rodger Shanahan, who responded to my argument that Israel would actually be more secure in a nuclear-free Middle East. Thanks to all of them for laying bare some of the unspoken assumptions behind my argument, though I'm

The 2012 Australia-India Roundtable was held this week in New Delhi.The opening remarks, delivered by Australian Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, kicked off the debate surrounding the possibility of enhanced energy cooperation between the two countries. You can read the Co-Chairs'

Danielle Rajendram is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's International Security Program whose work focuses on India and China-India relations. TS George reflects on the differences between Chinese and Indian political systems: 'what we see is an avowed democracy getting caught in the

On Tuesday, Jeffrey Goldberg visited the Lowy Institute, where we recorded this discussion with our Executive Director Michael Fullilove. Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, writing primarily on Arab and Israeli politics. He has won numerous awards, including the

By killing Hamas' senior military commander in Gaza, Ahmad al-Jabaari, Israel is taking a calculated risk. Mostly, Israel and Hamas have an uneasy understanding. Hamas doesn't shoot at Israel and it tries to prevent other militant groups in Gaza from shooting at Israel; Israel, in turn, refrains

Australia's successful ascent to the UN Security Council will require it to address issues it had previously been happy to simply let pass by. One of these is the increasingly hypocritical attitude Western states have adopted towards democratisation in the Middle East.  While I was taught many

It's not often you hear Australia's combative Opposition Leader Tony Abbott be this generous to the Government: I rise to support the comprehensive statement of the Prime Minister and I welcome this chance to express the Coalition’s support...  ...I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment

As noted in last week's India Linkage, last Saturday marked 50 years since the start of the 1962 China-India war. Among the more insightful pieces that came out included articles by C Raja Mohan, Dhruva Jaishankar, and a touching reflection on military defeat by Shekar Gupta. The Lowy

Australia still has much to do to repair its relations with India. Sumit Ganguly argues that Kashmiri independence isn't as simple a solution as it may seem. The Australia India Institute is giving undergraduate students an excellent opportunity to get to know India. What is the difference

Alicia Mollaun, a PhD candidate at the Crawford School at ANU, is based in Islamabad. This is the second of a three-part series on a journey to a remote corner of Pakistan: Part 1. Ask Australians what they think of when Pakistan is mentioned and many say terrorism, violence and Osama bin Laden

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the UN General Assembly last week, which set a red line for Iranian nuclear capability using a prop that appeared to be straight out of the Warner Brothers graphic design department, provided Israeli satirists with plenty of ammunition. The

Jerry Nockles' excellent post on American exceptionalism gives an insight into the way the US perceives its role in the world. And in his selection of quotes from contemporary US politicians, the degree to which they pay homage to this concept shows that it remains a real issue. The inevitable

A little over three years ago, President Obama gave a much anticipated speech in the hall of Cairo University that was titled 'A New Beginning'. It was designed to signal a break from the confrontational approach to the region adopted by the Bush Administration, and followed on from a Persian New

Danielle Rajendram is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute\'s International Security Program whose work focuses on India and China-India relations. Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated little aptitude for politics so far. What does he stand for? A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey reveals that

No sooner had the tragic news broken yesterday of five more Australians killed in Afghanistan than Canberra\'s propaganda machine coughed and spluttered to life, all set to churn out its trademark combination of myth, platitude, euphemism, selective half-truth and straight-out lie. The

Danielle Rajendram is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute\'s International Security Program whose work focuses on India and China-India relations. In the same week India commemorated the anniversary of former PM Rajiv Gandhi\'s birth, a well-timed reflection on political dynasty in Asia

The air is thick with the stench of hypocrisy over Syria. For a country whose own politicians often refer to it as \'The City Upon a Hill\' for its role as a moral exemplar, the US risks losing what remains of its moral authority in the Middle East through its hypocritical policy in Syria. Perhaps

Before the events of the last weekend, the main issue facing Egypt\'s President Mohammed Morsi (pictured) was his lack of real power. Now he may have too much. The key question is how he and the Muslim Brotherhood will use this power. Will it be to cement Egypt\'s transition to

Yesterday the noted expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Anatol Lieven, spoke at the Lowy Institute. In this interview, he shared with me some extraordinary insights into some of the streams of Taliban thinking about the prospects for peace in Afghanistan, including surprising speculations on whether

Alicia Mollaun, a PhD candidate at the Crawford School at ANU, is based in Islamabad. It\'s hot, it\'s humid and it\'s Ramadan. When I moved from Australia to Pakistan two years ago, I had limited knowledge of Ramadan and it certainly didn\'t affect my everyday life. Now, even as a non-

While looking for a shot to illlustrate Rodger Shanahan\'s post this morning, I came across some photos of the very glamorous Syrian first lady, Asma al-Assad. I couldn\'t help thinking of this

It would be nice to believe that the entirely abhorrent Assad regime in Syria is being opposed by a group of morally upright freedom fighters rigorously observing the rules of war. The reality is otherwise. While Syria has been a ruthless mukhabarat state for decades, the fact that the regime has

One could be forgiven for thinking that an agreement had been hammered out and that international unity had triumphed over regional rivalries in the wake of the recent Geneva conference on Syria. Our own ABC announced that \'an international deal had been reached on peace for Syria\', while The