As the old joke has it, I’ve predicted five of the last two financial crises. But this time I’m not the only person getting alarmed about the current volatility in financial markets. Plenty of “serious…
- Adjunct Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney
China and Japan don’t get on. This is a problem for them and for the rest of the world given their economic and strategic importance. It hasn’t always been this way, though. Japan once acknowledged China’s…
God’s son, an early and astute observer of the limits of developmental economics, famously declared that “the poor will always be with you”. To judge by the otherwise enchanting streets of Paris, he knew…
One thing Malcolm Turnbull didn’t talk about on his recent visit to the US was the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president. Perhaps he thinks of it as too unlikely to worry about. The conventional…
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a bit of a pain. Its leader, the remarkably youthful Kim Jong-un, is a caricature of tin-pot despotism. While we may be fortunate enough to find some of his…
Capitalism is, as the Marxists used to say, full of contradictions. It may well be the greatest wealth-generating machine ever invented. But it is famously volatile, unpredictable and prone to cyclical…
My employers think I know something about the practice and theory of international relations. Perhaps I shouldn’t draw attention to my shortcomings in this area given that my university is currently in…
Does New Zealand have a more realistic view of its strategic environment than Australia? Given that many hard-headed Australian strategists think that New Zealand freeloads on Australia’s security efforts…
Was it Confucius who said it’s a funny old world? If he didn’t he might well do so now. Having spent part of the last couple of weeks trying to breathe in Beijing, one can’t help but be struck by the remarkable…
One of the distinctive features of the contemporary international order is the role played by multilateral organisations. Ever since the US became the dominant force in international affairs in the aftermath…
If there is one thing that the new administration of Malcolm Turnbull can be confident about, it’s that dealing with China is not going to get any easier. Despite our new prime minister taking a decidedly…
As borders are re-erected and national interests take precedence over collective ones, it is hard to see the Europe that we know surviving in quite the same way.
This has not been a good week for chaps of a certain age, ethnicity and temperament. The number of dead old white guys (DOWGs) is on the rise. We are apparently taking our lives in surprisingly large numbers…
I’ve been feeling uncharacteristically optimistic about the future of the country. Like most Australians, it seems, I’m infatuated with Malcolm Turnbull. My unaccustomed euphoria has been brought on by…
Every generation thinks it’s special. My generation – ageing baby boomers – suffers from this affliction more than most. But Generation Z may be about to give us a run for our money. They may actually…
China’s not happy. Normally that sort of phrase is pretty meaningless. Clearly not everyone in China has the same view on anything – with the possible exception of its territorial claims in the South China…
The “national interest”, at least as far as economic policy is concerned, has always been a contested compromise and a consequence of the relative political influence of domestic forces.
Bombing Syria seems to have become obligatory for any aspiring great power. After all, what’s the point in spending all that money on sophisticated warplanes if you can’t actually use them on someone…
Jeremy Corbyn is an interesting chap. He doesn’t look all that dangerous, but he seems to have frightened the life out of the British establishment, not to mention his own political party. True, some would…
The meeting between the leaders of China and the United States has rapidly become the gold standard for set-piece diplomatic extravaganzas. Xi Jinping and Barack Obama are, after all, the two most powerful…
Are some countries more compassionate than others when it comes to taking in the victims of conflict and chaos? To judge from the numbers, one might be forgiven for thinking so. Of the four million registered…
The current influx of asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants into Western Europe presents a profound challenge to the European Union’s values, solidarity and capacity to simply manage and accommodate…
Many people outside China find it hard to understand its obsession with history. Appropriately enough, however, a little historical context can help to explain this. China has had more recorded history…
Trade policy is usually the eye-glazing preserve of policy wonks and public officials. Suddenly, however, it’s the epicentre of a debate that tells us much about the difficulties facing political parties…
Few would disagree with the idea that China is a rising power with great international ambitions. For many policymakers, commentators and citizens in China, restoring its greatness and accustomed centrality…
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