Hard power at the service of America is now the centrepiece of US international policy.

U Ko Ni’s death need not be in vain; it should be a wake-up call to the deepening societal divisions across Myanmar.

We tend to think of South Asia and the Middle East as separate strategic zones but they are becoming increasingly more connected.

We know very little about Xi's personal commitment, if any, to globalisation.

The EU will not serve up May’s recently announced order for a ‘full English Brexit’. Neither is Brussels impressed by the threat of ‘Global Britain’.

The key is a vibrant economy that creates new jobs. Trump’s protectionist measures are a distraction from this bigger challenge.

Every armed group that is not Islamic State can be considered moderate in the context of Syria, but radical to the West.

It was a short week for The Interpreter, but it was full of deep thoughts about big subjects.

In Iate 2017 the fourth annual Australia-PNG Emerging Leaders Dialogue took place at the Queensland Art Gallery.

This week's round-up of migration and border policy news.

2017 will pose more sharply than at any time since the fall of the Berlin Wall the question of what Russia wants from the United States and the world system more broadly.

After the election of Donald Trump I argued that populism may not be the right lens through which to view recent political trends in Western democracies.

Our regular update from the world of digital diplomacy.

With mixed enthusiasm for a US-less TPP, it's all eyes on the promised Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the 16 countries involved to meet in Japan next month.

We'll be taking a day off so fewer posts than usual tomorrow, back to normal on Friday.

In this podcast, Josh Kurlantzick, Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council for Foreign Relations and author discusses twilight wars from Laos to the present day.

It’s clear Russia conducted a significant and wide-ranging information operation targeting the US election, using a variety of cyber and traditional propaganda tools.

This week's links include new statistics on student migration and workers visas, ruminations on the PNG election, gold mining underway again in The Solomons and an Oscar nomination for Vanuatu film.

Left to their own devices, institutions tend to over-represent white males compared to every other demographic.

This year it is 25 years since Francis Fukuyama published The End of History and the Last Man.

I knew before coming to Sri Lanka on holidays that cricket was in season, but I never guessed that my sporting nirvana would be realised in South Asia.

The talks are being moderated by Syrian government ally Russia, in the capital city of a former Soviet republic, without US involvement, at a time when military conditions on the ground put the ball firmly in Russia’s court.

Labour must rediscover its confidence in the British public and political institutions and embrace a UK that takes a strong stand in world affairs.

More than 30 years after the Spycatcher case, espionage is back on Prime Minister Turnbull’s agenda – albeit in an utterly different form.

This week's links include a profile on the new head of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Oxfam ruffling feathers at Davos and more.

For all forecasting’s demonstrated imperfections, sensible policy-making requires some view on where the economy is headed.

In Trump's mind, the media and the intelligence community are intimately connected as arbiters of 'ground truth', to be tamed and controlled.

Concerns around women’s safety and security are greatest for the presidential election; there may be more room to manoeuvre in the municipal campaigns.

The new president has a lot to learn and has shown a limited capacity to evolve.

Obama's legacy, how Mexico is preparing for Trump, Taiwan's inaugural delegation, and more.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has sent an 11-strong cross-party delegation to today’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, urging them to interact with and thank Trump.

The story of Narendra Modi's rise to power in India sounds eerily familiar today. And at first glance, Modi and President-elect Donald Trump should be natural allies.

Battling climate change was a signature issue of President Barack Obama’s tenure, particularly during the his second term.

Communist forces defeated the US-backed side in Laos but somehow left the CIA convinced it had mastered war.

‘No’, she said, in words which many still struggle to believe, ‘the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.’ And with that May upended more than four decades of British foreign and economic policy.

Obama leaves office enjoying unusually high approval ratings while simultaneously fearing the wholesale destruction of his legacy.

This week's links range from revelations at the World Economic Forum to legal analysis and a furore over hijabs and Australia Day.

The report was titled La guerra que viene (the upcoming war) and was accompanied by a stern-faced image of Trump.

Communicating successfully about terrorism and counter-terrorism is not easy, and inflating the capabilities of either has real-life consequences.

This week's links include PNG's schools, Rugby World Cup, regional feminism and more.

Competency in counter-terrorism is about more than arrests and attack disruptions.

More concerning than an America focussed on financial return is one erratic in its approach to the world.

Terrorist recruiters target disenchanted refugee children who see no hope for their future and who would like to escape from camps.

It is in the interest of both Chinas to prove that previous arrangements cannot be undermined by any third party.

The chief criticism is that the IMF is not a 'learning organisation'.

A communication strategy that fails to place fear-reduction at its centre ignores how a terrorist act differs from many other forms of violence.

Historians will see Obama’s mature presidency as a high point for US relations with the region.