Ian Dudgeon is an AIIA Presidential Associate and former ACT Branch President. January 2018: Pakistan’s Game-Changing Opportunity  November 2017: Afghanistan Reconciliation: Looking For Light At […]

AIIA Presidential Associate Ian Dudgeon completed rounds of talks in Iran and Australia in November 2015 with senior […]

Ian Dudgeon is a Presidential Associate at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. His paper ‘Afghanistan—transition to transformation‘ looks at the future of […]

Ian Dudgeon is a Presidential Associate at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. His presentation looks at the India-Pakistan […]

Despite heavy criticism of Trump and the US for abandoning the Kurdish forces, there are some cautious positives to the situation in Syria.

As US President Obama and Russian President Putin met this week in the US to discuss the fight against Islamic State, support for […]

Ian Dudgeon is a Presidential Associate at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. This presentation is based on his visit to Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore […]

Iran and Russia have entered a closer political, economic, and military relationship during the past two years, the trigger widely seen as the upsurge in defence cooperation following Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This new relationship, described variously as a strategic alignment or strategic partnership, was seen by both Tehran and Moscow as necessary to meet mutual and separate critical national needs due to the restrictive effects on both of US and Western sanctions.

The war in Gaza has resumed with Israel recommitted to the destruction of Hamas, unimpeded by a proposed UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which the US alone vetoed on 8 December. But despite this, the US is pressing hard for a “day after plan,” a two-state solution that delivers long term regional stability and peace.

Israel is expected to win its military war against Hamas in Gaza, but it will not win politically. The challenge for Israel and other key stakeholders is to find a political solution that creates post-war stability, and shapes a long- term peace settlement that is win-win for both Israel and Palestine.

Key players that will manage Afghanistan in the foreseeable future are the Taliban interim government, the UN, other international organisations, and neighbours Pakistan, China, Russia, and Iran. The US has continuing interests, primarily countering any resurgent threat of transnational terrorism from within Afghanistan.