Smaller states in a world on fire

Recent crises show how quickly smaller states can be drawn into conflicts they neither choose nor control and while some have responded by seeking gains from great‑power competition, this hedging tends to raise the stakes and increase their vulnerability.

Labor takes the reigns in a dangerous decade

Anthony Albanese’s incoming Labor government faces a difficult, but not insurmountable, set of diplomatic and defence challenges in safeguarding Australia from external threats in the coming decade.

Disturbing the peace

The increasing threat which Russian and China pose to their neighbours will only ramp up the threat to world peace in 2022.

Huntington redux? A new era of civilisational politics

A quarter of a century after Samuel Huntington published ‘The Clash of Civilisations’, the issue has returned to the world stage with a vengeance. However the issue can be a Pandora’s box and, once released, the idea of cultural incompatibility can be very difficult to contain.