For the past two centuries, Australia got many of the big calls on global engagement right. In our third century, there are worrying signs that we have not fully grasped what the rise of Asia means.
For the first time, Australians can vote for this year’s Eurovision winner. But it’s as much a political battlefield as a song contest – so hopefully the Russians have forgotten the “shirtfront”.
The US gravely miscalculated in trying to get China to accept the existing global order. Forced to make a choice, America’s closest allies are joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Britain’s decision to join China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a revealing example of one of the key realities of the new international order. Not only are geopolitics and geoeconomics…
__The turmoil of 2014 was a timely reminder to businesses that they need to be prepared and have contingency plans for global conflict. The crisis in Ukraine brought Russia and the West to the brink of…
Whether you fear or welcome a challenge to the world’s existing power structure, the main focus of attention is on when China will begin to translate its increasing influence into genuine global leadership…
The “thirst for oil” is often put forward as a near self-evident explanation behind military interventions in Libya, for instance, or Sudan. Oil, or the lack of oil, is also said to be behind the absence…
A common topic of discussion in Iran is oil and the mixed blessing it represents. The country’s recent history has been intertwined with that of international oil politics since 1908, when William Knox…
As a fragile ceasefire just about holds in Ukraine, with shelling reported in the pivotal port city of Mariupol, the EU has announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. Targeted at state-owned firms…
Karl Marx warned against conjuring up the past to explain the present, but really, we have been somewhere very like the Ukraine before. Benjamin Disraeli stood in the British parliament 150 years ago condemning…
The rapid escalation of the situation in Crimea has led us faster than we might have thought to consider if and how Russia might unleash energy policy as part of its geopolitical strategy. President Vladimir…
Kathrin Keil, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam
Disappearing Arctic sea ice has brought new opportunities for shipping, and placed the top of the world squarely on industry and politicians’ agendas. When the bulk carrier MV Nordic Orion last week ferried…
The recent death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez from cancer comes as no great surprise. The former military leader had rarely been seen in the public eye since December last year when he travelled…
Instead of increased reliance on gas imports expected five years ago the US now has an abundance of cheap gas for domestic use, and is even projecting LNG exports. Reliance on oil imports has fallen from…
CHINA IN TRANSITION: As China goes through its secretive but widely anticipated leadership transition, the rest of the world is watching. This week, The Conversation takes an in depth look at the National…