With no sign of Hong Kong protestors letting up or the crisis being substantively resolved, the Australian Government and Parliament should each take three initial measures to stand up for democratic values, rule of law and human rights.

Between 28–29 June, G20 leaders successfully produced substantial achievements on the central trade questions and many development, social, ecological and security issues. But they failed on their greatest challenge: controlling climate change.

Despite their regional proximity, the political engagement of youth in recent major elections in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia has differed from the very vocal to the more subtle and secretive, reflecting the distinct challenges in each nation.

Professor Richard Whitman speaks with AIIA WA's Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann on the impact of Brexit on the EU and the Northern Ireland border, as well as the impact of a No-Deal Brexit or the possibility of a no Brexit at all.

Despite Iran’s frustrating tactics and stubbornness, the nation's leaders may well know they must renegotiate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. However, they are seeking a pathway that avoids simple capitulation to Trump.

Australia never once purported to exercise its right to grant diplomatic asylum despite quite exceptionally choosing to assert the existence of that right. Other countries that denied the existence of such a right nevertheless granted it in practice.

The Australian prime minister’s first foreign policy speech last week repositioned Australia as a creative middle power that seeks to develop a regional security architecture. For this he deserves credit, though the test is to realise these ambitions.

While diversification is sometimes presented as a simple fix to apparent economic over-dependence on China, no amount of hoping will make India the “next China.” And despite the risks, two-way trade with China provides the ballast when politics gets rough.

The last five years have seen a marked increase in the number of women representing Australia at senior levels in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). There are many other areas where the lessons from DFAT’s Women in Leadership Strategy can be applied.

The animosity that motivated this week's violence in Hong Kong runs much deeper than dissatisfaction over a failed extradition bill. While many Hong Kongers believe violence undermines their economic future, the young people who trashed the legislative chamber of the city see no future in the institutions and economic opportunities offered to them.