This week in Australian foreign affairs: Australia is "heading to the Moon," G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Meeting on Afghanistan, the annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting, and more.

The view that AUKUS is a justified response to China's actions ignores China’s achievements and future ambitions. It also ignores China’s legitimate security fears.

China has increasingly engaged in coercive economic behaviour on an international scale. Australia and its allies will need to unite to coordinate a strong geoeconomic response.

In the 1960s, the Indonesian army engaged in the organised slaughter of Communists in Indonesia. Indonesians will soon be able to read the truth about their nation’s atrocity.

Australia and Canada are Western middle-power democracies and US allies that struggle to manage relations with an increasingly assertive and powerful PRC. This is causing unnecessary hardship for Chinese Australians and Canadians.

The challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust Cuba and its medical internationalism into the spotlight. Australia should take note if it wants to make significant inroads with its South Pacific neighbours and enhance its presence in the region.

The AUKUS announcement creates extra challenges for Australia's trade negotiations with the EU. Now scheduled for mid-October, this development is seen as a French and European reaction to the so-called “sub snub.”

Recognition of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, acknowledges the mental distress suffered by veterans of war. Tine Molendjik argues that despite the benefits, recognition does not go far enough in unpacking the moral injuries of war.

In recent months, the discourse on mental health has made media headlines around the world. Mental illness affects almost one fifth of the world’s population, however there are significant treatment gaps between the Global North and South.

Also discussed in this episode of Australia in the World: Quad leaders; China & CPTPP; and Taiwan.