Reopening to the world beyond COVID

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s flight path on the way to Washington for the annual AUSMIN meeting with their American counterparts provides an insight into Australia’s policy directions and relationships as we look to open up to the world over 2022.

September 11 2001: 20th anniversary reflections on freedom, democracy and Australia’s place in the world

As Australia reflects on the sombre anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, we might also consider the fuller meaning of democracy and freedom and how our actions expand or limit its expression around the world today.

Island encounters

East Timor won its hard-fought independence from Indonesia almost 20 years ago, and a new book explores this fascinating country.

Darkness falls

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is a bitter blow to people in that nation who dreamed of a brighter future under a democratic government.

Five by five

From the melting of the Greenland ice sheets to terrorist take-overs and cyber-security breaches, there’s always new things to worry about.

Afghanistan’s ex-leaders have no-one to blame but themselves

While the United States and its western allies have been blamed for the Taliban’s return to power, in truth the blame lies with a succession of weak, corrupt and incompetent Afghan governments over the last 20 years.

Helping Afghan refugees

Canada is offering to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees, including women’s leaders and journalists. Why has Australia so far been unwilling to make the same declaration?

Lessons from Afghanistan

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan is a tragedy for the millions of Afghans who believed the line that the United States, NATO, Australia and others were there to protect them and give their country a chance of stability.

What’s next for Afghanistan?

After their rapid, bloodless victory in Afghanistan in the wake of the allied withdrawal, do the Taliban have the capacity to govern the country and keep unified control?

Biden’s Bay of Pigs

The collapse in Afghanistan that followed President Joe Biden’s decision to proceed with a complete US troop withdrawal may come to be seen as his own “Bay of Pigs”.

The Taliban take Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s government and security forces have crumbled without a fight in the wake of the allied withdrawal to allow the Taliban to once again seize power.

Stalin’s war

Initially allied with Nazi Germany in its carve up of Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union played a major role in its final defeat, and a new book examines the role of the Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin in these apocalyptic battles.