A close examination of ports and other infrastructure projects in Indonesia and Australia brings to light a paradox of success for global shipping networks and raises questions about how future infrastructure projects should be funded, built, and eventually managed.

Recent developments have influenced the relationship between civilian agencies, militaries and non-state actors in the Asia-Pacific to facilitate an improvement in humanitarian civil–military relations to protect and assist disaster-affected communities.

How Australia engages with Asia has been a dominant question in 21st century foreign policy, mainly driven by issues of trade and immigration, but geopolitical strategy as well. It has led to several “White Papers” on the subject.

While Australia and Indonesia are close neighbours and close friends, they are less close as business partners.  Prioritising connectivity and reframing their economic ties as regional rather than bilateral could help foster that relationship.

Those carefully staying on top of European news media might be experiencing the eerie feeling that they have been here before. Will we witness a European migration crisis again in 2020?

With Chinese students being prevented from returning to Australia to continue their studies amidst the coronavirus, universities are pushing initiatives such as online teaching. However, there are some legal implications in doing so.

K-pop is the South Korean phenomenon with a passionate global audience.  The impact of coronavirus on K-pop is just another example of how the pop music genre sits at the intersection of performance, profit, and politics.

Robert Bowker uses long-secret cabinet notebooks to throw light on Australian political decision-making in the Suez Crisis of 1956, when Prime Minister Menzies took out insurance with a great power partner by giving conspicuous but token support for British action against Egypt, at some cost to Australia’s international reputation.  

In this week's podcast, we look at Australia's response to the coronavirus, the UK allowing Huawei technology within its borders, and potential WTO reforms.

Global reporting critical of Australian climate change inaction, as social media misinformation campaign tries to shift blame