In the weeks before the European Union accepted Ukraine into membership talks, AIIA National Executive Director Dr Bryce Wakefield travelled to Hungary and asked about Budapest's beef with Kyiv.

This week in Australian foreign affairs: joint statement with Canada and New Zealand supporting ceasefire in Israel-Hamas conflict, Russian cyber targeting of democratic processes, Head of Mission announcements, and more.

For almost two decades, Canberra hedged its economic and security bets between China rather successfully, with Australian policymakers announcing that the country would not have to choose between the two great powers. That era is over.

China draws lessons from the past mistakes, cooling down tensions with the United States just one month before the Taiwan presidential elections in January 2024. For Taiwan, however, China’s military exercises inch closer.

As operating Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) become easier, and their costs decrease over time, some expect the trend in the number of actors using UCAVs to increase. Currently, these UCAVs are flawed and imprecise, casualising the gravity of lethal combat that is tethered to engaging in a just war.

The 2023 European Commission report on Bosnia and Herzegovina highlights persistent challenges in meeting EU membership criteria, with ongoing issues in the judiciary, corruption, and governance. Recent events, including demands for a judge’s resignation and the Republika Srpska’s refusal to recognise Constitutional Court decisions, raise concerns about the country’s constitutional and legal order.

Professors John Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato contest the view that states frequently act irrationally, as they propose their own concept of rationality and survey a number of cases in support of their argument. 

Korea's economic challenges are many, but perhaps the most pressing is the relationship between the current government and labour unions. A change of mindset is needed if the country is to move beyond the structural challenges seen as potentially existential. 

Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is an outspoken advocate of Japan’s joining AUKUS – as reflected in his recent speech in Canberra to the AIIA. He also has a record of hawkish comments on Taiwan, but how much influence does he wield within the Japanese government and in his own party?

The war in Gaza has resumed with Israel recommitted to the destruction of Hamas, unimpeded by a proposed UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which the US alone vetoed on 8 December. But despite this, the US is pressing hard for a “day after plan,” a two-state solution that delivers long term regional stability and peace.