The new Foreign Policy White Paper offers a mix of soft power and cooperative initiatives alongside the usual emphasis on hard-nosed security strategy. But is it time for Australia to replace the stick with the carrot to fulfil its objectives?

In a dynamic Indo-Pacific region, what was once purely trade policy is now also security policy. But with Australia looking to continue profiting from Asia's economic surge while keeping its security ties to the US, can it have its cake and eat it too?

The AIIA examined the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper to determine the key takeaways. It begins a week's analysis of the government's most comprehensive foreign policy strategy document in more than a decade.

Celebrations have erupted in the streets of Harare in the wake of Robert Mugabe relinquishing power this week. While he may no longer be in control, will Zimbabwe continue to be influenced by his legacy?

Lebanese Prime Minster Saad Hariri's strange resignation left the country puzzling over the reach of Saudi Arabia. Now that he has returned to Lebanon, there are still more questions than answers.

To the surprise of many, the slow and steady negotiations for a new German government led by Angela Merkel fell apart disastrously this week. Will it mean the end for Europe's longest-serving democratically-elected leader?

The tragic war in Yemen stands as the latest casualty of the Cold War between Iran and Saudi Arabia which has come to define the region. Inaction by the West in the short term could have big long-term consequences.

A number of high-profile scandals have recently pushed gender-based violence into the media spotlight, but International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is a reminder that its most pressing among the world's most vulnerable.

A perilous lack of enthusiasm and funding has characterised the lead-up to next month's annual meeting of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva. Can states afford to be apathetic on these weapons?

World Toilet Day has once again passed with all the pomp and ceremony that its name would suggest. But in the face of serious health and development consequences, it is time for world leaders to do some bathroom reading.