Section: Lowy Institute for International Policy (Australia)
Digital Asia links: South China Sea cyber, Uber in China, Russian troop selfies and more
The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media users. An escalation in online activism, changing cyber dynamics, developments in digital diplomacy and the exploitation of big data are shaping the region’s...
Weekend catch-up: ISIS, China’s worldview, Putin’s pivot, Turkish elections and more
It was a short week on The Interpreter, thanks to Monday’s public holiday, but the other four days were filled with plenty to interest and provoke. For instance, we debated the war against ISIS in Iraq, with retired General Jim Molan arguing that Australia needed to step up its commitment by deploying army advisers alongside the Iraqi army...
Putin’s pivot: The Russians are coming to Asia
Vladimir Putin has told the West that it has nothing to fear, yet the conflict in Ukraine is flaring again. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is warning his citizens of a full-scale Russian invasion. Contacts between NATO and Russian forces have increased markedly. Reports of Russian strategic bombers close to the UK, and of a Russian...
Restless in Odessa
For the Ukrainian Government, the EU summit in Riga, Latvia, last Friday was a bitter pill. EU leaders dashed hopes for fast a track to Ukraine’s membership. Kiev received non-committal promises about a visa liberalisation program and pledges of €1.8 billion in loans (national debt has almost reached 100% of GDP). But even this is dependent...
Kevin Andrews’ Defence White Paper preview
Given that the forthcoming Defence White Paper will be the third in six years, one could be forgiven for being slightly cynical about the overarching political exercise. Labor clearly felt the messaging, both domestic and international, of the 2009 White Paper was sufficiently problematic as to warrant a rewrite in 2013. Then, upon coming to...
US, EU and Russia compete over Black Sea
Some see recent trips by US officials to Russia — including a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi — as signs of a budding détente. Yet the north-western corner of the Black Sea remains the scene of a three-sided struggle between Russia, the US and EU. With...
Taiwan: US deterrence is failing
Deterrence is a beguiling concept. It offers the hope that we can prevail over our opponents without actually fighting them because our mere possession of military power will be sufficient to compel them to our will. This seductive idea seems to be the basis of Michael Cole’s view that deterrence will allow America and its allies to defend...
Kim Jong Un reveals his shaky grip on power
Update: This essay was written before this week’s execution of North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-Chol. The sheer brutality of that execution – for the ‘crime’ of falling asleep in public, and by anti-aircraft gun – supports the contention in the essay below that Kim Jong-Un skipped his recent Moscow trip for fear of a coup...
China-Russia: An uneasy friendship
[youtube:LLC28B2bwpw] The China-Russia relationship is the world’s most important, and the best between any two great powers, Xi Jinping told Vladimir Putin a couple of years ago. Last week, at the Kremlin’s V-Day celebration, their ties were reaffirmed in grand style. Some observers dismiss the partnership as an ‘axis of...
Weekend catch-up: Defending Taiwan, Russia’s war, aid workers, TPP and more
[youtube:vZ9myHhpS9s] First off, as Sam wrote this week, we are hosting a live event in Canberra on 28 May, The Interpreter’s Ultimate World Politics Trivia Challenge. It’s at the National Press Club and will be hosted by the ABC’s Chis Uhlmann. I’m sure it will be as memorable as other famous quiz nights (see above). The...
