White Paper 2013: What are the options? (part 2)
Paul Dibb is Emeritus Professor at the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies, ANU.Wednesday linkage: China, Microsoft, Olympics, Iran, the pivot and more
The China Choice: an extract from Hugh White's new book, to be launched at the Lowy Institute next week.Burma and WMD: In the news again
Andrew Selth is a Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and author ofWhite Paper 2013: What are the options? (Part 1)
Paul Dibb is Emeritus Professor at the School of International, Political and Strategic Studies, ANU.Politics in PNG: It a man world
Hordes of newly elected Papua New Guinean MPs are now engaged in post-election horse-trading (or as one blogger puts it, the 'PNG shuffle').Reader ripostes: Syria and America
Dayne Eckerman writes:Two steps forward for Fiji relations
First came the positive murmurings out of the May meeting of the Pacific Island Forum's Ministerial Contact Group on Fiji. The ministers, including our own Bob Carr, were encouraged by the changes they saw in Fiji.Lies, damn lies and Syria
You know your credibility is seriously in doubt when you have to rely on the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) for accurate information.Reader riposte: South China Sea and ASEAN
Carl Thayer writes:Calling our young strategic minds
Applications are now open for the 2011-12 Michael and Deborah Thawley Scholarship in international security at the Lowy Institute. The closing date isMonday linkage: Iran, Syria, Twitter, Olympics, Photoshop and more
Australia's top 100 journos and media people on Twitter. (Thanks Stephanie.)Southern Philippines: Looking outwards
Steve Rood's latest writing on the stop-start peace process in the Southern Philippines contains this very interesting take on why there may be a greater chance that the present 'start phaseWR Mead on Asia future order
Below is part 3 of my interview with renowned US foreign policy analyst Walter Russell Mead; part 1Friday linkage: ASEAN, women in think tanks, Batman, climate and more
Ernie Bower from CSIS responds to Hugh White's piece on ASEAN. More on this next week.Why ASEAN can't unite
Hugh White says it is difficult to imagine Indonesia putting its relations with China at risk by supporting Vietnam over its claims in the South China Sea.Bob Carr: Funny, friendly, benign
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has just finished his speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney.South China Sea: Our diplomatic timidity
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has rejected the suggestion I made in a Lowy Institute Snapshot yesterday, that the South China Sea is the most unpredictable and dangerous dispute in our region and thatAustralia finally embraces ediplomacy
In embassies and chancelleries the world over, ediplomacy seems to be the new rock & roll.China haunts ASEAN dreams
China said boo and ASEAN flinched, jumped and momentarily fell silent.Reader riposte: ASEAN stumbles
Linda Quayle writes:A leaner, more effective Army Reserve
Imagine if we decided that, at $17 million per gold medal, preparing elite athletes for the Olympics was too expensive and that instead we'd pay our fastest and fittest to train only foThursday linkage: Japan cities, peak oil, China, India nukes and more
Land of a million scrapped TVs: an insight into China's recycling industry.Reader riposte: Evacuations from Syria
In response to my post on UK's apparent readiness for a civilian evacuation from Syria, reader Jonathan Darby posted the following. My comments follow:What at stake in the South China Sea?
As tensions rise in the South China Sea, I argue in a new Lowy Institute Snapshots paper that finding solutions should be given the highest priority, with Australia well placed to play a brokering role.As power shifts, ASEAN stumbles
Thanks to Sam for linking to Ernie BUK ready for Syria evacuation. Are we?
A report emerged this week (thanks Sam) that the UK is gearing up for a possible mass evacuation of British citizens from Syria, with a helicopterHow Australia can lead on climate change
Fergus Green is co-author of Laggard to Leader: How Australia can Lead the World to Zero Carbon Prosperity.Wednesday linkage: China, North Korea, Indonesia, Space Station and more
Yesterday Fergus Green linked to Bill McKibben'sIndonesia, emerging aid donor
David Hatch is Indonesia Deputy Program Director for USAID.Tony Abbott China speech
Here's a transcript of the speech, and below is a short video we recorded yesterday with my first impressions:Batman and Thatcher: A tale of two Tories
Over the last four days I've seen two films with nothing in common except their politics. The just-released Batman film 'The Dark Knight Rises' and the Margaret Thatcher biopic 'The Iron Lady', which I caught on DVD, couldn't be further apart in tone, theme and setting.Why Australia must lead on climate change
Fergus Green is co-author of Laggard to Leader: How Australia can Lead the World to Zero Carbon Prosperity.Do we take 'warning time' seriously?
Justin Jones' post on the continuing relevance of warning time as a strategic concept has been somewhat neglected and is worth returning to.Emerging donors linkage
The role of emerging donors continues to be a hot topic in international policy circles.Interview: WR Mead on Asia 3D chess
Below is part 2 of my interview with renowned US foreign policy analyst Walter Russell Mead; part 1First ASIS speech may not be the last
There has been so much media coverage of the speech the Lowy Institute hosted last week by Australia's so-called top spy, it would be an intelligence failure of the highest order if you had somehow missed the story.What’s in a word? Why ‘a bit of containment’ fits
Robert Ayson is Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University, Wellington.Dobell on the ASIS speech
Last Thursday Graeme Dobell put down some thoughts on the historic speech by Australian Secret Intelligence Service chief Nick Warner.The costs of Indonesia democracy
Peter McCawley is a Visiting Fellow at the Indonesia Project, ANU, and former Dean of the Asia Development BankMonday linkage: ASEAN, asylum seekers, Jon Stewart and more
A deeper look at the recent ASEAN fiasco reveals what China wants: a weak and divided ASEAN. (Thanks Milton.)Free trade: Untangling the noodles
The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations has fizzled out.Friday funny: Going for an English
Thanks to a reader who sent in this follow-up to last Friday's Rowan Atkinson sketch about English lager louts in an Indian restaurant:Autocrats, democrats and growth
Steve Grenville's recent post on democracy and Indonesia's economy brought to mind old debates about the relationship between a country's political regime and its economic grow
