The minnow embraces the whale

The Solomon Islands’ embrace of China may bring economic benefits but it also increases the risks of local conflict and the challenges faced by donors from democratic nations.

Russia and China’s different tacks on information warfare

Both Russia and China use social media and propaganda to subvert democratic nations, but they go about their task in different ways.

Australia fronts up at the U.N.

Although most eyes in Australia have been on Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump, it’s not the only game in town.

The Saudi oil strike shows the new way of war

Australia’s defence planners must learn the lessons the attack on Abqaiq teach us about the risks of sticking with traditional mindsets and maintaining old paradigms in the face of rapid changes in warfare.

Boris on the ropes

Boris Johnson’s previously unshakeable public persona has been tainted by the tawdry Brexit spectacle, and he could potentially be the shortest surviving UK prime minister since 1827.

Britain left bereft by Brexit

Whatever sort of Britain emerges from the other side of Brexit, it’ll have a reduced role and reputation in Europe and perhaps the world.

A century on: remembering the Australians who fought in the Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War killed as many as 10 million people and the Bolshevik victory gave a bloody birth to the Soviet state. Small numbers of Western forces fought the communists, including a handful of Australians in the wake of the Great War.

Bringing Hong Kong back from the brink

Hong Kong’s current crisis is the result of the absence of politics. The chief executive and the cabinet were never elected, are unrepresentative and do not have to answer to ordinary Hong Kongers. Average citizens also feel they have no stake in a leadership system that ignores their needs, serves mostly the wealthy elite, and is answerable only to Beijing.

Hong Kong: The canary in the coal mine

Hong Kong continues to be wracked by civil unrest as its people protest against Chinese oppression. How did it come to this, what does it signal, and where is it likely to end?

It’s a numbers game of two halves

Manchester City won last year’s English Premier League and have a 36.5 per cent chance of coming top again, according to the numerical analysis of University of Adelaide’s Professor Steve Begg.

Which side are we on?

The protests in Hong Kong started over CEO Carrie Lam’s extradition bill and have turned into a defining issue for the trajectory of China as a state and a society, and for the Chinese state’s relationships internationally.

Bringing Russia to justice over MH17

Those involved in the shooting down of a Malaysia airliner – and the deaths of 283 passengers and 15 crew on board – during Russia’s proxy invasion of Eastern Ukraine may yet be brought to justice.