Section: Lowy Institute for International Policy (Australia)
The fog of ‘regular’ war
Hugh White’s considered response to the questions I posed in our recent exchange on the fundamentals of Australian defence strategy prods me to elaborate on my previous arguments as well as to make some counterpoints. On the question of irregular warfare, we seem to be in agreement that it is certainly the most common form of warfare today...
Why Australia needs full-spectrum defence
Given he was the principal author of the 2000 Defence White Paper, it is reassuring to know that Hugh White agrees with me that Australian strategic policy needs a rethink, even if he is not persuaded by all of my prescriptions. So, in the spirit of a full and frank debate about what needs to be done, let me respond to Hugh’s observations...
Malcolm Fraser’s foreign policy wisdom
Many Liberals and conservatives have looked on sadly over the past three decades at the career of Malcolm Fraser. Like British prime minister Ted Heath, Fraser started off as a man of the Right but ended up as anything but. But some political questions transcend party, and in the post-Cold War era, ideological divisions on foreign policy all too...
Weekend catch-up: Documentaries in Asia, women’s rights, death penalty in Indonesia, India-US, EU reform and more
Bringing together the best longer Interpreter articles you were too busy to read this week. Over the last couple weeks, two documentaries, one in India (India’s Daughter) and the other in China (Under the Dome), have stirred debate about climate change, sexual assault and censorship in Asia. But, as Danielle Cave argued this week, the...
Europe: Greece is not the biggest problem
No news is good news. The Greek debt crisis and even the euro have momentarily disappeared from the headlines. Europe and the euro will survive and will do even better than that, much as this displeases the Murdoch media, conservative think tanks and pundits all over the world, including in Europe itself. More interesting is the effect of the...
Ukraine: IMF sent in where others fear to tread
This week the IMF Executive Board will consider a proposal to provide Ukraine with a US$17.5 billion Extended Fund Facility. The IMF Managing Director explains that this program ‘can succeed’. But it has to be said that the chances are low, given current geopolitical circumstances and Kiev’s recent economic performance. IMF...
Weekend catch-up: Islam and ISIS, Bibi in DC, Nemtsov, drones, India’s budget and more
Bringing together the best Interpreter articles you were too busy to read this week. How is the Islamic world responding to the threat of ISIS? Two pieces addressed this question on The Interpreter this week. The first is from Lauren Williams who wrote on the Lebanese Sunni political party, Future Movement, and how similar groups throughout the...
Who killed Boris Nemtsov, and why?
The gangland-style killing of Boris Nemtsov on Saturday marked the worrying return of political assassination to Russia’s internal power games. While Russia has remained one of the most dangerous places to be a government opponent or outspoken journalist, murders of opposition members have actually tapered off in recent years. Nemtsov was...
