This week in Australian foreign affairs: Albanese hosts Sogavare in Canberra, Wong condemns North Korea’s missile launch over Japan, rejection of court ruling against Professsor Sean Turnell, Stephen Smith to be next UK High Commissioner, and more.

Consumed by the war in Ukraine, Russia isn’t holding up a collective defence bargain for Central Asia and the Caucasus. The annexation of eastern Ukraine will make Russia even less attractive as a security ally.

The 25 September general elections in Italy are the result of a complex socio-political, institutional, and economic scenario that began in 2020. To understand the results of these elections, it is necessary to delve into the origin and functioning of its current political system.