Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 6 Aug 2019
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    US foreign policy: restraint without retrenchment

    Robert E Kelly
    Can the US escape a “law of the hammer”, where the deployment of American troops abroad offers a temptation to use them?
  • 6 Aug 2019
    • United States
    • Trade
    • China

    Coordinating with America to pressure China on trade

    Stephen Grenville
    Beijing should pay legitimate intellectual property charges yet the system is an imperfect way to reward innovation.
  • 5 Aug 2019
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Iran

    Iran: Washington calls on Canberra

    Rodger Shanahan
    Politics more than military necessity will decide if Australia backs Trump’s push for a Persian Gulf security force.
  • 2 Aug 2019
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    Trump and the question of intelligence

    Gregory F. Treverton
    Nominating loyalist John Ratcliffe as US intelligence chief will only compound the problem of speaking truth to power.
  • 30 Jul 2019
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States
    • Australia
    • New Zealand

    The Pacific step up goes to Washington

    Alan C. Tidwell
    Finding a voice amid the diplomatic clamour in Washington can sometimes benefit from the help of friends.
  • 26 Jul 2019
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    Bob Mueller exits the stage

    Erin Hurley
    Rather than a beginning of something more, the testimony of the former Special Counsel this week felt like an end.
  • 23 Jul 2019
    • United States
    • Trade
    • China

    Trump and Xi need a trade deal and they need it soon

    John Edwards
    With the US election looming, the window for an agreement is closing – yet the two sides are closer than often assumed.
  • 22 Jul 2019
    • China
    • Emerging Threats
    • United States

    What Tom Cruise can teach us about great power competition

    Dirk van Graver
    Hollywood’s “Healthy Development” of an audience in China carries a cost should reel life mask the real thing.
  • 11 Jul 2019
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    The pitfalls of North Korea’s summitry spectacle

    Khang Vu
    It is easy to mistake process for progress in talking to North Korea.
  • 9 Jul 2019
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    The US does more in the Pacific than it gives itself credit for

    Michael Walsh
    Technical definitions of what counts as “aid” fail to capture the full scope of American assistance in the region.
  • 8 Jul 2019
    • United States

    US states pushing for Roe v Wade test case in Supreme Court

    Prudence Flowers
    Over the last decade, a devastatingly effective assault against abortion access has been unfolding in the United States.
  • 5 Jul 2019
    • Defence & Security
    • Europe
    • United States

    The burden of friendship: Germany, Trump and NATO

    Marcus Colla
    Germany earns a special ire in the President’s complaints, but Berlin sees less challenge in dollars and more in trust.
  • 4 Jul 2019
    • United States
    • Iran

    Iran’s dangerous gamble

    Mahmoud Pargoo
    Hardliners in Tehran might underestimate Washington’s reluctance to fight while overestimating their control at home.
  • 1 Jul 2019
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    The Republicans’ post-Iraq dilemma: the hollow threats

    Robert E Kelly
    Not only is Donald Trump the boy who cried wolf, the US public will not support diving into a quagmire war of choice.
  • 24 Jun 2019
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Iran

    Iran: Australia’s deliberate ambiguity

    Daniel Flitton
    Even without direct conflict, Washington’s tensions with Tehran pose an awkward alliance challenge for Canberra.
  • 21 Jun 2019
    • Asia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Five factors will decide the survival of the US-led alliance system

    Mason Richey
    In the Asia-Pacific, we know the questions asked of the San Francisco System. We just don’t know the answers.
  • 20 Jun 2019
    • United States

    The challenge to legal abortion in the Trump era is global

    David Smith
    Alabama’s new anti-abortion law might be extreme but resurgent attacks on legal abortion are widespread.
  • 19 Jun 2019
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran

    The limits of unilateral action against Iran

    Rodger Shanahan
    Washington is finding maximum pressure campaigns have limitations and bringing along friends and allies could help.
  • 18 Jun 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • China
    • Technology

    Are we ready for a rare earths trade war?

    Jeffrey Wilson
    As China holds extraordinary power over material essential to high-tech products, Australia is key to diversification.
  • 14 Jun 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • Iran

    Oman: credibility gulf will test White House

    Daniel Flitton
    The US was quick to blame Iran for the oil tankers stricken in the Oman Gulf, yet will Donald Trump convince the world?
  • 12 Jun 2019
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Migration

    That Trump phone call to Australia and what it means to refugees today

    Alex Vedovi
    Secret “swaps” might have led the US President to hang up on Malcolm Turnbull but the principle of the deal must stand.
  • 6 Jun 2019
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    Just why is the North Korean status quo so persistent?

    Robert E Kelly
    Maybe it’s Trump’s personality, maybe it’s domestic politics in Seoul, or perhaps North Korea simply loves the bomb.
  • 6 Jun 2019
    • Asia
    • United States
    • China
    • Singapore

    Singapore steers the US-China extremes at Shangri-la

    Richard McGregor
    Was Lee Hsien Loong critical of China, giving the stick to America, or perhaps resigned he could please neither?
  • 4 Jun 2019
    • Asia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • United Kingdom
    • France

    Superpower scrutiny at Shangri-La

    Michael Fullilove
    The Chinese are finding they are now subject to the Spiderman rule: with great power comes great responsibility.
  • 3 Jun 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    Trump’s Mexico tariffs an ominous sign for global economy

    Roland Rajah
    There is no appeasing a playground bully so why should countries bother to negotiate with the unreliable “Tariff Man”?
  • 28 May 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • China
    • Technology

    Huawei and the decoupling dilemma

    Darren Lim , Victor Ferguson
    If Washington wants to liberalise China’s economy, it must also accept China’s deeper integration with global markets.
  • 22 May 2019
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    Sign of respect: the Freely Associated States come to Washington

    Genevieve Neilson
    Wooed by China and Taiwan, the presidents of Palau, Micronesia and Marshall Islands now sit down with Donald Trump.
  • 21 May 2019
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran

    The clock is ticking on tensions with Iran

    Rodger Shanahan
    The US hasn’t got much to show a year after pulling out of the nuclear deal, but Iran’s patience is also running out.
  • 17 May 2019
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Australia

    What a Shorten government will mean for the US-Australia alliance

    Nick Bisley
    Revolution? No, but Bill Shorten might find it tricky to grin and bear it in dealings with Donald Trump’s White House.
  • 16 May 2019
    • United States
    • Australia
    • China

    Peeling back the label in Australia’s America and China relationships

    Katherine Mansted
    Whether “friends”, “customers” or more, a definitive policy stamp is not needed to navigate security and economic ties.
  • 13 May 2019
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran
    • The Trump Presidency

    The looming international law paradox between the US and Iran

    Melinda Rankin
    Donald Trump is undermining much more than just the nuclear deal with Iran, but faith in international law, too.
  • 13 May 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • China

    Trump’s tariff tussle

    Stephen Grenville
    Given America’s cherished belief in free enterprise, Washington should be delighted its rival is handicapping itself.
  • 3 May 2019
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    The persistent status quo with North Korea

    Robert E Kelly
    For all the bluster, threats, reversals and extremes in recent times, very little “on the ground” has altered.
  • 30 Apr 2019
    • Europe
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Migration

    Visa tussles: here come the Irish again

    Alan C. Tidwell
    Australia’s privileged access to a US special working visa class is under challenge once more and will likely be lost.
  • 16 Apr 2019
    • United States

    The remarkable political influence of the Indian diaspora in the US

    Aarti Betigeri
    And what the experience and example might hold for a growing South Asian community in countries such as Australia.
  • 12 Apr 2019
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom
    • United States

    Julian Assange’s case is special, and no point pretending otherwise

    Daniel Flitton
    Assange’s case, difficult as it is, unpleasant a character as he can appear, is still a test of Australian principles.
  • 9 Apr 2019
    • Asia
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    US bipartisanship on Asia

    Malcolm Cook
    Look beyond the reality show coverage of the Trump presidency, the bipartisanship on regional initiatives is striking.
  • 8 Apr 2019
    • United States
    • US Economy
    • The Trump Presidency

    The useful myth of central bank independence

    Stephen Grenville
    If Alan Greenspan was “the Maestro”, then Fed chair Jay Powell needs also play to the orchestra to resist Donald Trump.
  • 2 Apr 2019
    • United States
    • Iran

    A year after US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran digs in

    Barbara Slavin
    The Trump administration calls it “maximum pressure” but Washington’s ability to further squeeze Tehran is constrained.
  • 1 Apr 2019
    • United States
    • Japan
    • South Korea

    As South Korea and Japan pick a fight, don’t expect Trump to care

    Robert E Kelly
    Washington often been an informal umpire for the depressingly regular spats between Seoul and Tokyo – not this time.
  • 26 Mar 2019
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    The battle to resource the US National Defense Strategy

    Erin Hurley
    Shifting the money to match US objectives in the Indo-Pacific is still proving to be a challenge.
  • 25 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    The Mueller illusion

    Daniel Flitton
    What the long investigation has really exposed is more of the same old politics at play.
  • 20 Mar 2019
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • China

    Why reciprocity matters: the US Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act

    Natasha Kassam
    China’s days of treating the US as a peer and expecting special treatment at the same time appear to be running out.
  • 14 Mar 2019
    • Global Economy
    • United States
    • China

    What might a US-China trade deal look like?

    John Edwards
    A deal will imply that economic separation – or “decoupling” ­– of the two giant economies has not been pursued.
  • 12 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • Japan
    • North Korea

    Tokyo may be happy about Hanoi, but has a lot more to worry about

    Bates Gill
    With Pyongyang and Washington, the facts on the ground have not changed much for Japan and could get worse.
  • 8 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency

    What the pessimists get wrong about Trump in Asia

    Natasha Kassam
    It is possible to discern a slowly emerging US strategy for dealing amid the tweets of fury.
  • 7 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    Kim and Trump, again: North Korea’s drives the wedge

    Khang Vu
    Denuclarisation has stalled, but Pyongyang is still reaping the rewards by playing off the US and South Korea.
  • 6 Mar 2019
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • North Korea

    Political leadership versus diplomacy

    Jeffrey Robertson
    Political leadership and diplomacy evolved over thousands of years into distinct fields - for good reasons.
  • 5 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • United Kingdom

    Learning from Brexit in Donald Trump’s America

    Erin Hurley
    Internationalists need to be clear about what needs protection and what needs reimagining, and build public support.
  • 5 Mar 2019
    • United States
    • North Korea

    Trump is 0–2 in his on-the-fly diplomacy with Kim. Time to stop

    Robert E Kelly
    A mix of bluster, laziness, and media over-exposure is not going to get a deal done and revolutionise North Korea ties.
Pagination
  • Previous page ‹‹
  • …
  • Page 9
  • Page 10
  • Page 11
  • Page 12
  • Current page 13
  • Page 14
  • Page 15
  • Page 16
  • Page 17
  • Next page ››

Stay informed with the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

Register

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2025 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks