The leak of US dipomatic cables by Wikileaks revealed some equally frank assessments of British politicians.
Julie Bishop and Marise Payne have risen to the top in foreign affairs, but their successes may be masking more systemic issues preventing women from advancement.
William West/AAP
A new report has found a major gender gap persists in Australia’s diplomatic, defence and intelligence fields. Australia needs good ideas, and we cannot assume they will all come from the same place.
Protesters in Hong march to West Kowloon railway station on July 7.
Chan Long Hei/EPA
Trump announced ‘hard-hitting’ new sanctions on Iran in response to the attack on a US drone. A peace studies scholar explains why sanctions rarely work.
Sanctions are making life increasingly difficult for ordinary Iranians, such as those in Isfahan.
Doug Hostetter
To defend traditional Italian products such as meats and cheeses – delicious, but often high in fat and salt – the country’s government has launched an intense lobbying campaign to fight nutrition labels.
Pelosi has a quick word with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
PA/Clodagh Kilcoyne
The House of Representatives speaker repeatedly said the UK can forget about a trade deal with the US if it fails to meet its obligations to the Good Friday Agreement.
A board for the Prussian wargame of ‘Kriegsspiel.’
Matthew Kirschenbaum/Wikimedia Commons
David Banks, American University School of International Service
War games let you test your political and military acumen right at your kitchen table – while also helping you appreciate how decision-makers are limited by the choices of others.
As rival factions vie for control over Venezuela, many of the country’s 31 million people are suffering prolonged power outages, food and water shortages, and limited access to medicine.
Future Australian governments need to work harder at making foreign affairs more accessible to the public, such as better explaining the “Pacific pivot”.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Whoever forms the next government should increase investment in foreign affairs and trade, finding ways to make Australia more prominent in global dispute resolution.
St Peter’s Square, 2014. The Pope benefits from a wide popularity especially in Europe, but does it really influence people’ decisions on political issues?
Alfredo Borba/Wikimedia
Pope Francis has been a staunch voice for a world free of nuclear weapons. But should he be involved in defence politics at all? And how does the Pope’s message resonate among the European public?
Architect and designer Florence Knoll Bassett poses with her dog, Cartree, in this photograph circa 1950.
Courtesy Knoll Archive
Margaret Re, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Knoll is best known for transforming the design of America’s corporate offices. But she was also on the front lines of a State Department effort to promote American ingenuity and capitalism abroad.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Johannesburg in 2018.
EPA-EFE/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin Pool
Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder happened at a consulate, a space not subject to the laws of the host country, Turkey. That means the alleged murderers did not fear interference by local authorities.
Honduran migrants at the border with Mexico in mid January. Many will continue north to the US border.
Esteban Biba/EPA
The high-profile absence of several world leaders including Trump from the World Economic Forum has led some to suggest its influence is in decline. A philosopher who has seen Davos up close disagrees.
Fighting deadly diseases such as Ebola is a strong case for providing donor aid to authoritarian countries like the DRC.
EPA-EFE/Ahmed Jallanzo
Eric Stern, University at Albany, State University of New York
The significant churn in the Trump administration has caused confusion in foreign policymaking. In contrast, Bush’s presidency was marked by collegiality, which contributed to many successes.