This week in Australian foreign affairs: Marles in New Zealand for South Pacific Defence Ministers' Meeting; new financial and cyber sanctions imposed on Russian citizens for cybercrime; new humanitarian assistance package to support civilians in Lebanon, and more.

Sudan’s escalating civil war has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with millions facing severe food insecurity and displacement. The conflict has resulted in widespread violence, including attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers, and has exacerbated regional instability.

Despite its remote likelihood anytime soon, a two-state solution is the only practical way of ending the present Israel-Palestine conflict. What is more immediately required by the Australian government, however, is an answer to the growing domestic disunity caused by that conflict.

In a sign of changing geopolitical and economic realities in the country, capital flight is becoming increasingly apparent in China. What are the underlying causes of dwindling foreign investment and what does this mean for the Chinese economy in the long term?

Meryl Streep brings global attention to the ever-deteriorating situation for Afghan women. Her speech at the UN General Assembly went viral, creating space to talk about the myriad ways the Taliban’s gender apartheid regime is breaching the rights of women in Afghanistan and what we can do to help.

The Afghan Taliban have commenced an aggressive attempt to thrust aside and silence critical Afghan voices in international circles. If Western governments are sincere in their protestations of concern about human rights in Afghanistan, they will resist these endeavours, forcefully.

Mid-July 2024 saw two major events on China’s economic and trade sectors. At the Third Plenum in Beijing, the Party-State presented options to fortify China’s economy by its 80th anniversary in 2029. At the same time in Brussels, the World Trade Organization (WTO) conducted its ninth biannual review of China’s trade policy. Countries around the world, including Australia, are deeply interested in how China’s economic trajectory will forge international trade relations into the future.

Spamouflage, a form of disinformation spread through fake social media accounts, poses a growing threat to democratic processes by manipulating public opinion and amplifying polarisation. Governments must take proactive steps to curb the impact of these campaigns and protect the integrity of elections.

In China, the deprivations precarious workers suffer go beyond the labour market to impact family relations, social participation, and mental and emotional health. Even if policy has made some attempts to reduce precarity in recent times, there is still significant room for improvement.

This week in Australian foreign affairs: Marles in Timor-Leste to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Popular Consultation independence referendum; Marles and Wong host counterparts in Australia-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultation; humanitarian assistance for Bangladesh, and more.

The development of the Australia-Japan relationship from former adversaries to close allies is a remarkable statement of the ongoing closeness each nation perceives in the other. From the strategic importance of trade, defense cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges to the challenges of addressing shared concerns about China's rise, there is a clear rationale for the deepening of political and strategic collaboration between the two nations.