This election was a perfect storm for the Coalition, with fires, floods and international criticism dialing up the pressure for climate action. In the end, Australia made the decision for them.
Judging by the campaign, and a bit of recent history, we can expect to see a Labor government pay more attention than their predecessors did to Indonesia – and Southeast Asia in general.
Managing the transition to a net-zero emissions economy must be a priority task for the next government. Our strategic and economic success depends on it.
Buildings in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv that were destroyed by Russian bombardments.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Ukraine appeared not to matter much to the US and other Western countries. It wasn’t a vital interest. Russia’s war has redefined Ukraine’s status with the West.
Not only are great-power conflict, nuclear war and the end of civilisation as we know it still real possibilities, our collective capacity to manage them may be decreasing.
Supporters of Ukraine, like these demonstrators in Boston on Feb. 27, 2022, are likely to be disappointed by any peace deal.
Vincent Ricci/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The US frequently chooses to put its own interest ahead of its professed values. That approach to foreign policy is called ‘realpolitik’ and it may lead to an unsatisfying peace deal in Ukraine.
Former Senegalise President Leopold Senghor (1974).
Photo by Henri Bureau/Sygma/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
The British-Iranian national is returning to the UK after being held in Iran since 2016.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks about the Ukraine crisis during the daily White House press briefing on Feb. 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
With the Coalition leaning hard on its perceived strengths on national security, Labor’s only option is to emphasise bipartisanship.
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks through a hall in the building housing Russia’s GRU military intelligence service.
Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP
Maggie Smith, United States Military Academy West Point
Troop buildups and diplomatic negotiations highlight the threat of a major land war in Europe. In cyberspace, Russia has been attacking Ukrainian infrastructure and government operations for years.
A military patrol detains a protester in Kazakhstan.
Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images)
A former US ambassador to Kazakhstan explains the strategic and economic importance of Kazakhstan to the US.
During last weeks in English-language debate, leaders mentioned foreign policy, but moved on without substantive discussion.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The Government of Canada’s investment in its foreign service and broader foreign policy apparatus at GAC requires a significant overhaul and increase in resources.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau speaks to media near Brampton, Ont. while on the campaign trail.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The Liberals claim the election is critical to Canada’s post-pandemic future and suggest COVID-19 badly disrupted the status quo. But is that really the case?
The lesson to draw from our conflict over China policy is not that Australia is having trouble identifying its national interest, but that there’s really no such thing as a single national interest.
White Americans who hold racist attitudes are likely to prefer military action over diplomacy in foreign countries like Iran and, in particular, China.
Frank Rossoto Stocktrek via Getty
Analysis of US survey data finds that white people who hold racist views are more likely than others to favor military action over diplomacy in China and Iran, and to endorse the global war on terror.
Indigenous people have 80,000 years of diplomatic practice on this continent. Yet, our views on foreign policy are routinely overlooked.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, is visible as President Joe Biden holds a virtual meeting with the Mexican president at the White House in March 2021.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)