Australia needs to unravel several different issues but the foreign interference legislation succeeds only in straining diplomatic ties with China and weakening political participation. Australia would be better to strengthen its democratic structures and expand its diplomatic role in the region.

Members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association have declared the need to counter transnational terrorism through the sharing of intelligence. The absence of trust is one of several obstacles that remain for integrated impartial intelligence.

Australia has closely cooperated with the US security agenda in outer space, with joint facilities on Australian territory to support intelligence activity. However, laser technology could supply Washington with the means to bypass these facilities in the future.

The US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was welcomed by many of the Iranian people. The next step is for the US Administration to support the goals of those involved in resistance against the regime.

Qantas’ recent announcement on how it will refer to Taiwan is emblematic of China’s efforts to reduce Taiwan’s strategic space. Such efforts can also be expected to exclude Taiwan from future global agreements on emerging technologies.

Russia and NATO control the overwhelming majority of the world’s nuclear weapons and while the likelihood of an all-out war is low, the risk cannot be ignored. Russia and NATO are never going to see eye-to-eye on some issues, but tensions cannot be allowed to escalate.

The “will they-won’t they” US-North Korea summit, either by accident or by design, has the potential to re-set the strategic atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula, but only if Washington and Pyongyang can find a convergence of common interest.

Corruption, the cost of living and social inequality helped drive Malaysia towards a change of government on 9 May. However, these factors were already present when a strong push failed to topple the government in 2013. What changed in 2018 to allow the opposition to achieve this historic win?

The EU and Australia look to deepen relations in the face of mounting challenges to the rules-based international order.

Last week the EU announced that it has formally approved free trade negotiations with Australia, with talks to begin in June. How does this fit with the broad evolution of the EU-Australia relationship?