The high costs of our destructive coup culture

There are no easy ways to rid ourselves of the coup culture, or to force tin-eared politicians to lift their game. But it wouldn’t hurt for more people to follow the example of those in the community leadership program and remind their MPs of their KPIs.

4 reforms to improve leadership stability

Australian prime ministers now struggle to survive a term in office, falling at the hands of their own nervous MPs before they can face the electorate a second time. How could party rules to changed to ease the churn of the top job in the country?

Assessing the Bishop era of Australian foreign policy

As time goes by, we will notice the opportunity Julie Bishop missed to make a decisive impact in charting Australia’s course during a period of historical importance.

Malcolm Fraser’s political manifesto would make good reading for the Morrison government

In their calculations about how to rebuild the Coalition’s shattered credibility, Morrison and Frydenberg should remind themselves that a lot of Australians are fed up with politics as usual.

Turnbull holds off Dutton challenge

Attack is often the best means of defence and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has turned the tables on his Liberal Party opponents by holding a surprise leadership vote. How much breathing space this offers him remains to be seen.

How to deal with Mr Trump’s assault on global institutions

President Trump’s disdain for traditional alliances and international institutions has shaken the confidence of the USA’s long term allies around the world. What does the future hold for Australia and the rest of the region if the USA pursues its current isolationist course?

The end of the rules-based liberal international order?

The American president is a symptom, not the cause, of the broader problems surrounding the deterioration of the liberal international order.

The hard part of soft power

Australia used ‘soft power’ to enhance its regional interests long before the term was invented, but how should DFAT reassert its ability to control the narrative within the machinery of government itself?

China verses the world

Since coming to power in 2012, Xi Jinping has set his sights on increasing his own power in the country, and his country’s power in the world. Can this threat to the established order be turned into an opportunity?

The politics of international aviation

Commercial aviation is being transformed into a new form of soft power by nations around the world. While we might like to think that passenger planes can soar above the troubles of the world, recent incidents show how aviation can be manipulated for political purposes.

The future of the Commonwealth

If the Commonwealth did not exist, would there be any point in creating it? Contemplating the range of social, political and environmental issues which confront the world, the answer should be a resounding yes.

How Putin exploits democracy’s lost promise

Vladimir Putin maintains an iron grip on power and flexes Russia’s muscles in the ‘near abroad’, but perhaps the Russian dictator’s greatest success lies in sowing turmoil in Western democracies themselves.