Posted: 10:00 am on 10th May 2012
In a revealing article in Foreign Policy, Christopher Stephen highlights the high costs and derisory results of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite the recent conviction of the former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor for aiding and abetting war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone, the ICC balance sheet remains disappointing. With its tenth birthday only months away, 750 staff and a price tag of more than US$1 billion, the ICC has…
Posted: 8:00 am on 4th May 2012
Australia is sitting between two giants. It is no delusion of grandeur to think our extensive economic connections with China and deep security bond with the United States place us on a fault line between a superpower and a superpower-in-waiting. The arrival of US marines in Darwin and the Gillard government’s decision to bar the Chinese telco Huawei from bidding for the NBN have brought the complications of life on…
Posted: 8:00 am on 31st March 2012
Foreign Minister Bob Carr will no doubt be glad to see the end of his gaffe-prone first month in office. But the toughest part of his job is only just beginning. Until now, Australia’s foreign policy has been pretty cut and dried: Find a great and powerful friend and stick with them. Britain had the first go at the job and passed on the baton to the United States. Life…
Posted: 10:38 am on 29th March 2012
Australians have become used to thinking about the rise of China, the role of America, and what the interplay between these two powers means for us. But we give much less thought to what these changes mean for Southeast Asia: the region inhabited by 600 million people that sits between Australia and China. Research Fellow Jessica Brown discusses this issue in her new paper Southeast Asia’s American Embrace.
Posted: 8:00 am on 28th March 2012
The Washington Post yesterday reported that Australia and the US are considering expanded military ties as America shifts its strategic focus towards Southeast Asia: The talks are the latest indicator of how the Obama administration is rapidly turning its strategic attention to Asia as it winds down a costly decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. government is finalizing a deal to station four warships in Singaporeand has opened negotiations with the…
