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As a new defence chief comes in, Australia must focus its attention on its neighbours
BY PROFESSOR JOHN BLAXLAND On Anzac Day, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commemorated the centenary of the battle at Villers-Brettoneux, where Australian soldiers defended against the German spring...
Tenets of Thailand’s ASEAN engagement
BY DR GREG RAYMOND AND PROFESSOR JOHN BLAXLAND ASEAN member states have different perspectives on the significance of the grouping. As one of the founder member states, the second largest economy...
Who Cares If Duterte Skips the ASEAN-Australia Summit?
BY MARK MANANTAN Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to skip the ASEAN-Australia commemorative summit did not come as a surprise. Despite the warm gesture extended by Australian Prime...
Mahathir Mohamad crops up again in bid to lead Malaysia – with Anwar on the same side
BY DR AMRITA MALHI On January 8, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad announced his intention to contest the next general election, due sometime before August this year. In an...
Vietnam manages delicate balance between US and China
Donald Trump last week became the first U.S. president since the Vietnam War to have visited Vietnam during his first year of office, spending three days in the country during his inaugural Asian...
Even under Trump, US-Vietnam relations seem to be improving
Given how closely Barack Obama was associated with the deepening of US-Vietnam ties, the change of administrations in the United States inevitably raised questions about the relationship’s...
ASEAN and Australia beyond 50
ASEAN has achieved much in its 50 years, but it is currently perceived as underperforming and facing difficult challenges ahead. Australia, as ASEAN’s longest-standing partner, should support its...
Do the lessons of Thucydides apply to Singapore?
Recently the Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, Kishore Mahbubani, dropped a bombshell. He declared that Qatar’s experience of being embargoed by its neighbouring states...
Simplistic views of Indonesian Islam are limiting Australian diplomacy
A recent survey asked Australians to select words that best represent Indonesia. By far the most popular word was ‘religious’ (68 per cent), which subsequent focus group discussions revealed mainly...
Vietnam is a Promising Partner for the Trump Administration
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was the first Southeast Asian head of state — and the third from Asia (after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping) — to meet...
