In Nigeria, an ongoing 13-year armed conflict in the Northeast and persistent incidents of violence in some parts of the Northwest and South have resulted in a range of humanitarian consequences. For many, especially women and girls, living in the crossfire may best be described as a smothering experience.

This week in Australian foreign affairs: SSN-AUKUS announcement, Albanese attends Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, Don Farrell meets with his Indian counterpart, Albanese travels to Fiji, support for Vanuatu following cyclones, and more.

In his new book, “Pacific Power Paradox,” Van Jackson seeks to correct our vision of the past through his argument that the US has not just been Asia’s firefighter for peace, but also its arsonist. Is the US an impediment to the pursuit of regional peace and security?

The chaos of the past few years in British politics may be nearing an end with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's firm management of the ship. With the AUKUS deal, and a crisis averted over the Silicon Valley Bank debacle, things are beginning to look up for the United Kingdom. 

The brutality of the Wagner Group mercenaries fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine have thrown a spotlight on this private military company in western media. But in many African countries this mercenary group has been a household name for some time.

There is a slow moving but nevertheless vibrant feminist awakening in China on the issue of women’s reproductive rights. For the party and state, meeting these demands while also managing unwanted demographic decline is an unlikely challenge.

Alongside the promulgation of a radical new plan for the development of a “Digital China,” China’s domestic governance institutions are undergoing changes that include a vision for big data-driven financial oversight. At the crossroads of these two developments lies the e-CNY, a sovereign digital currency that many believe will have profound implications for the future of China’s digital economy.

Rishi Sunak has scored some important political and diplomatic successes in his short time as UK prime minister. But his party still has a long way to go to retain government at the next general election less than two years away.

The relative and changing power of states in the Indo-Pacific is assiduously displayed by the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index, which ranks states empirically as well as by influence. The 2023 edition reveals a recurring pattern - the US and China continue to grow comprehensively in power, further diverging from the middle power ranks.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has the ability to transform the future of Australian security in both positive and negative ways.  In the context of current security development paradigms, the challenges of information warfare, cybersecurity, nuclear deterrence, and space-based capabilities must be at the forefront of national thinking.