When it comes to Australia’s foreign aid spending, the Cameron Bancroft and Steven Smith ball tampering incident provides an illustrative analogy of the disconnect between our rhetoric and the reality of who we are and what we value as a nation.

The summit between Russian President Vladamir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok on the 25 April saw both leaders chasing their geo-strategic goals in Northeast Asia.

Spain’s incumbent socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was returned to office on 28 April.

Certain commentators have argued that immigration intakes will eventually start to shape the foreign policy of a recipient country. But in the case of Australia and its growing Asian minority, adaptation has been slow to occur, with some decisions actually being contrary to what one would expect from more Asia-sensitive governments.

Australia needs to acquire the expertise and understanding that will allow it to forge stronger ties with Africa in order to benefit from the many opportunities the continent presents.

In the aftermath of the Easter bombings, Sri Lanka will require effective initiatives for countering violent extremism.

Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has weathered a devastating eight-year war with Iraq, international sanctions, domestic power struggles and many other challenges.

Benjamin Isakhan, Shamiran Mako and Fadi Dawood’s edited collection State and Society in Iraq is a timely volume reminding us of the dynamism and long-standing activism of Iraq’s diverse constituencies and their historical and ongoing resistance to state dictates.

An examination of the Keating-Suharto era reveals that trusting leadership relations are highly valuable for the development of trust in bilateral relations.

The Australian government’s agreement to take people from Latin America in exchange for those on Nauru and Manus Island calls for critical reflection on current challenges in Central America and the dynamics of Australia-US cooperation.