As APEC brings leaders to the Pacific, new data shows adoption of digital technology is fuelling exports and business confidence is high throughout the region.

There hasn’t been a US ambassador in Canberra for more than two years. Should Australia feel snubbed?

Signed three years ago today, the 2030 Agenda is the international community’s ambitious response to today’s most pressing global development challenges.

This week the international community met to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region. Improving the security of adolescent girls should be part of the response.

Does participation in global supply chains drive openness to multilateral trade? Evidence suggests that the main impact has been unilateral tariff reductions and the proliferation of preferential trade agreements.

What is the nature of Chinese foreign aid to the Pacific? How has this shaped Australian concerns?

Early this month an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 10 Sikhs in Jalalabad. The attack highlighted the precarious state of the Sikh community in a country already destabilised by religious tensions.

In the last few years, Latin American organised crime groups have drastically expanded distribution of drugs into the Asia-Pacific. 75 per cent of cocaine seized in Australia now originates from Colombia.

Australia currently has ten Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 16 countries and more FTAs will enter into force in the future. Free trade agreements offer Australia similar in-principle opportunities and benefits as multilateral and other types of legally binding liberalisation.

Legal protection of whistleblowers is integral to ensuring that public bodies uphold transparency and accountability values. However, international organisations often do not provide the same protections as democratic states such as Australia.