Democratic states have a lot to consider with the prospect of a potential second Trump administration in their calculations for foreign and strategic relations. The Biden administration's orthodox foreign policy is stability focused, but Trump's unpredictability may be more useful for dealing with China and Russia. 

This week in Australian foreign affairs: Japan considered for AUKUS Pillar II; the Australia-Japan-Philippines-United States Maritime Cooperative Activity; special adviser announced to investigate Israel Defense Forces strikes; Julie Bishop to be United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar, and more.

In the shadow of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East it is challenging to imagine a farewell to wars. Hans Blix’s latest book surveys modern international relations, and with the critical mind of a lawyer and diplomatic practitioner, demonstrates how, over the last two centuries, the international system has accepted growing constraints on interstate use of force.   

In the face of increased security threats, Nordic countries turn once again to total or defence models. Yet rebuilding these whole-of-society structures comes with structural as well as political and social challenges that will take both time and resources to overcome. 

Significant changes in Finland have been made to national security with a stronger focus on the hard power attributes of deterrence. This has occurred alongside the strategic minimization of soft power and diplomacy in its engagement with Russia amid the War in Ukraine.  

India's diplomatic, economic, and cultural engagements with Africa have grown substantially in the last three decades, though the drivers of the country's Africa policy have remained the same. African support will be needed to fuel India's economy and consolidate its position as a leading power in the Global South. 

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Professor G. John Ikenberry argues that the grand project of liberal internationalism is in crisis today. But he believes there is every reason for the world’s democracies to work together to revive the liberal global order.

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.

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.

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.