Also discussed in this episode of the Australia in the World podcast: Australia-China bilateral relations, the "Chinese Government" vs. "the CCP" distinction, the aftermath of the US election, and the impact of the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

This Sunday, Myanmar held the second parliamentary election since the end of five decades of junta rule. Amid economic hardships, escalating civil and ethnic upheavals, and a strained international image with the Rohingya issue, Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party has claimed landslide victory.

The focus of last week’s elections was undeniably the presidency, but numerous down-ballot races and initiatives also made history.  With six states and Washington DC approving drug legalisation measures, America appears to be losing its war on drugs, and that’s a good thing.

Amid the frenzy of the final stages of the U.S. presidential campaign, the fifth plenum of the 19th Chinese Communist Party National Congress was held on October 26-29.  At this event, China’s leaders gathered to plan the country’s future.

The only times that foreign policy has been a significant issue in contemporary presidential elections have been during wars or major international crises. But to say that foreign policy is electorally less important than domestic policy is not to say that it is unimportant.

This week in Australian foreign affairs: Morrison congratulates Biden, two more COVID-19 vaccines secured for Australia, more flights between New Zealand and Hobart, and more.

Many of the drivers of paradiplomacy, such as the search for foreign direct investment, remain the same. New factors, in the form of strategic competition, are emerging and influencing the ways in which subnational actors interact with each other and with other countries.

Australia, India, Japan, and the United States held the first Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) on the sidelines of an ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in 2007. Since then, the Quad has faced significant scrutiny from detractors.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor provides China strategic access to the Arabian Sea and lucrative projects for Chinese companies. Pakistan needs Chinese technology to upgrade its infrastructure, especially in the energy sector, but CPEC has increased Pakistan’s fiscal instability and opposition requests for more transparency.

Harold David Anderson was a meritorious Australian who brought great distinction and much honour to his country. Anderson displayed strong ethical and moral courage in his realistic pessimism over Vietnam at a time when his views were not always welcomed in Canberra.