The West has condemned Moscow’s ongoing support for Bashar al-Assad. But perhaps it is the least-worst option.
Afghan refugee children returning from Pakistan learn about the dangers of mines and explosives at a UNHCR registration centre in Kabul.
Reuters/Ahmad Masood
As Western nations increasingly focus elsewhere, the battle for Afghanistan rages on.
Moroccan woman Samira Yerou is arrested at Barcelona airport in March on suspicion of attempting to join IS militants in Syria.
REUTERS/Spanish Interior Ministry/Handout via Reuters
Is serious reform to stamp out political corruption in Iraq even possible given inevitable opposition from those with a vested interest in the status quo?
Australian aircraft are set to join in bombing activities over Syria.
AAP
Australia must have a realistic view of the end goal in increasing its efforts in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, and start planning to stabilise and rebuild any territory retaken.
Nothing to see here: the aftermath of a reported chlorine attack in Syria.
Reuters
The war in Iraq and Syria might well now be a chemical one – but it won’t make any difference to the world’s response.
Tony Abbott has twice compared Islamic State to the Nazis, but does that aid our understanding of terrorism and what needs to be done to defeat it?
AAP/Richard Wainwright
We need to find ways of speaking about the horrific actions of Islamic State that help, not hinder, understanding of the magnitude of those crimes and what needs to be done to combat them.
Judge, jury and executioner.
UK Ministry of Defence
So far, Tony Abbott has failed to position himself as anything more than an opposition leader who has been given power and is unsure what to do with it.
Satellite images have confirmed the destruction of the Temple of Bel.
Gustau Nacarino/Reuters
Australia should keep out of the Syrian conflict. Instead, it should respect the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of disputes by promoting a diplomatic end.
Australia has been more comfortable in the ‘slipstream of power’, rather than leading, says Peter Varghese.
Lukas Coch/AAP
DFAT secretary Peter Varghese sat down with Michelle Grattan to talk about aid, the integration of AUSAID, Islamic State, the Asian century and much, much more.
US forces have been making targeted airstrikes over Syria since late 2014.
Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed
While symoblic, an increase in Australian firepower in the fight against Islamic State in Syria will not greatly affect the battlespace’s fundamental reality.
We cannot attribute a particular characteristic, whether positive or negative, to religion as religion does not have the ability to act.
EPA