Section: Australian Institute of International Affairs (Australia)
Russia-Chechnya Conflict: A Lion Waiting to Roar?
The deal struck between Kadyrov and Putin that brought the Chechen conflict to an end has led to a period of relative peace for the small republic, but the latitude granted to the Chechen president by Putin may cause long-term problems for the security of the Russian Federation. There’s a common tendency in articles concerning Russia to...
What Mongol History Predicts for the Next Season of Game of Thrones
As season six of HBO’s Game of Thrones looms, speculation is rife. Is Jon Snow really dead? What do the clips featuring a blind Arya mean? And what are the implications of the return of the Dothraki? This last question is the one that has got me thinking the most. The Dothraki are one of Game of Thrones’s more interesting cultures,...
Nuclear Security After NSS2016: Still Bridging the Gaps?
In his famous 2009 Prague Address, President Obama announced “a new international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” The result was a series of biennial Nuclear Security Summits that have brought world leaders together to cooperate on securing nuclear material from terrorism since 2010. More than...
The Dutch Referendum on EU-Ukraine Treaty Doesn’t Signal a Step Towards Nexit
The European Union’s treaty with Ukraine was rebuffed by Dutch voters on April 6 with over 60% rejecting it in a low turnout referendum. The government must now reconsider the treaty. Initiators of the referendum hope that it will be a step towards a “Nexit” – the exit of the Netherlands from the EU. But even if more Dutch referendums are...
Israel Unbound
Israel’s persistent occupation of Palestinian lands is irreparably damaging its international standing—or so the conventional wisdom goes. In fact, Israel currently enjoys a degree of global influence unprecedented in its history, as a slew of new international challenges give its foreign policy, long held hostage by the single issue of...
How Cities You’ve Never Heard of will Shape the Future
The world is urbanizing at breakneck speed. But not all regions are moving at the same speed. Most population growth today and tomorrow will occur in the sprawling cities and slums of Africa and Asia. Just three countries — China, India and Nigeria — will account for 40 percent of global growth over the next decade. Meanwhile, many cities in...
War or Peace in Ukraine?
The conflict in Ukraine has reached an uneasy impasse. As Putin, ever the strategic grandmaster, focuses his attention on the Middle East the future of peace in Ukraine remains uncertain. With all remaining quiet in the East of the country, where the conflict had sent ripples of Russian expansionist paranoia throughout Europe, what is the current...
Germany and Europe’s Security: Normalisation is Overdue
Germany has gradually assumed an increasing share of European leadership in recent years. Now it needs to take more responsibility for the Continent’s security. Europe’s post-Cold War order feels increasingly under siege. The embers of the Eurozone crisis still smoulder quietly in Greece, and its fallout stifles economic growth and...
ISDS Arbitration Upholds Australia’s Plain Packaging Laws
Tobacco giant Philip Morris has lost a major international legal battle to reverse Australia’s plain packaging laws by using the Australia–Hong Kong Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) of 1993. On 17 December 2015, a three-member arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Philip Morris had no...
Russia, IS and the Future of NATO
The years 2014-15 were a watershed for European security. The hope that NATO could enjoy a strategic pause and peace dividend after the end of its operation in Afghanistan has been dashed, as direct threats to the alliance have emerged at the Eastern and Southern flanks. Whether NATO manages to find an effective response to this situation will...
