Today, we are witnessing the exciting adoption of gamification by governments in their pursuit of the betterment of communities. However, complex design considerations must be recognised amidst this emerging approach.

For a ruler, it is safer to be feared than loved. Yet if Australia’s COVID-19 response has taught us anything, it is that when policies can only be sold by scaring the public witless, those policies tend to be badly conceived.

While the involvement of external actors in the Afghan conflict is not new, such external influence has increased since 2001. Too many players with divergent interests pose a challenge to the success of a peace deal in Afghanistan.

For all the concern this year that political tensions between Australia and China might harm trade and investment, this isn’t the most acute stress in the bilateral relationship. Compared with the battering that people-to-people ties are receiving, the current economic dramas rate a distant second.

This week in Australian foreign affairs: Australia, India, and France’s Trilateral Dialogue; ASEAN conferences; normalised Middle Eastern relations; and more.

Australia’s economy is at a crossroads. Whether its recovery is fast or slow will depend on the decisions made by Australian politicians.   

For the first time, the annual central banking conference at Jackson Hole was held online and live streamed to the public. It was also the first time the US Federal Reserve had ever conducted a review into its monetary policy strategy.

Achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan will require significant compromise between the state of Afghanistan and the Taliban.  Both sides have brought strong negotiating teams to the table, but agreed outcomes could prove elusive.

Turkey's military expenditure is amongst the world's highest, yet it continues to grow. Strengthening the military's grip over the country's political and social life comes at the expense of sustainable economic and social development. 

Having a chair at the UN Human Rights Council is a privilege to many countries, and Australia is the first Pacific nation to achieve this goal. However, Australia’s presence at the Council has not been matched by a resolve to eliminate domestic and international human rights abuses.