In a historic move NATO included Women, Peace and Security front and centre of its new Strategic Concept. While this represents progress, the challenge remains for NATO to operationalise its policy commitments in practice.

Julian Assange is a strange inkblot test for official Australia. For the official secrets culture of Canberra, Assange is so confronting as to be incomprehensible.

A last-minute announcement by Saudi Arabia has turned this year's pilgrimage to Mecca into a financial and logistical nightmare for Western Muslims. But, while Riyadh’s decision was in part influenced by economic and logistical interests, there is also a soft power dimension to this change.

Australia made international headlines when it agreed to the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. But, given the litany of issues that remain with the submarine plan, Anthony Albanese must carefully consider its implementation.

Kurds have again been betrayed, this time to enable Sweden and Finland to apply for NATO membership. The trilateral memorandum between these two countries and Turkey paves the way for the extradition of political refugees to Turkey.

The India-Australia bilateral relationship has advanced significantly over the past few years. Richard Marles’ visit suggests that trend is unlikely to change under the Albanese government.

The Qatar men’s FIFA World Cup 2022 will take place in November. There will be plenty of enjoyable football on show, but we should all keep our eyes on the human rights ball.

As Japan goes to the polls on 10 July, the ruling coalition looks set for a decisive victory. Such a result would pave the way for Kishida Fumio to implement his policies, and perhaps even set the stage for amending Japan’s Constitution.

Anthony Albanese led the Labor party to government at the federal election in May 2022. There now seem to be some signs of warming relations between Australia and China.

The recent European Council summit demonstrated a willingness to potentially accept new states, like Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. Australia should follow their lead and engage further with Eurasia.