Australia needs a diplomatic sea change in the South China Sea

The Australian government needs to show that diplomacy int eh South China Sea has been seriously tried and found wanting. But the evidence is that multilateral diplomacy hasn’t been pursued with the required vigour or intensity.

Obama's foreign policy legacy in three quotes

After the Bush administration, many believed that President Obama would bring stability to the global order with a fusion of eloquent rhetoric, a preference for multilateralism and a cautious approach to exercising the politico-military capabilities of the world’s sole superpower. For little more than that promise, it seems, Obama would be awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Fast-forward to the end of the Obama era and the global security environment is more volatile than it has been in decades: Russian influence is surging in the Middle East and Europe, wars ravage civilian populations in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, waves of migrants are straining EU unity, while the jihadist threat has metastasised. It’s a legacy, fairly or otherwise, that may come to be defined by three quotes.

US election: Donald Trump presidency is cause for real security concern

Julie Bishop has indicated that her Department of Foreign ­Affairs is looking at various scenarios for the outcome of the US elections tomorrow. She made it plain that a Donald Trump presidency would have to be per­suaded to maintain a US presence in the Asia-Pacific region. “It will be up to our region, including Australia, to persuade a Trump administration to focus on the Asia-Pacific,” she said. In my view, Australia should be concerned, very concerned, about a Trump victory. And here’s why.

Professor Des Ball: The insurgent intellecutal

The Sydney Morning Herald publishes an article by Dr Nicholas Farrelly on the extraordinary life of Vale Professor Desmond Ball AO following his recent passing.

Jakarta bid queried

Indonesia's Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has urged Australia to rebuke Pacific states, in particular Solomon Islands, for raising Papua in global fora.