For the past three months, farmers in India have been protesting against federal laws that will deregulate the country’s tightly controlled food markets. The farmers say the changes will leave them vulnerable to exploitation by large commodity companies.

The protests have taken on national and even international significance, because they …

Last Friday, the leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia proposed a special meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss the military takeover in Myanmar.

Normally, special meetings would be initiated by the ASEAN chair – currently Brunei – which can be slow to act, as members do not traditionally interfere in one another’s …

On Monday, armed forces seized control of Myanmar. Declaring a one-year state of emergency, the military detained the leader of the ruling National League for Democracy party, Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other civilian politicians. It alleges that the NLD fraudulently won the November 2020 election against the military-aligned opposition.

The …

COVID-19 cases in Australia on 23 March 2020 (lockdown day): 1709
Total cases in Australia as of 14 December 2020: 28,048
Cases in the United States on 23 March 2020: 35,206
Total cases in the United States as of 14 December 2020: 16,518,420

Number of entities on Australia’s foreign influence register: 153
Proportion …

The pandemic may have provided a diversion from other foreign affairs issues in 2020, but with a new US administration and the China–Australia relationship in a downward spiral, Australia will face five big challenges in 2021.

The China question

In 2020, Australia’s relationship with its …

The major economies of the G20 sought to reassert their global influence on Sunday by agreeing to cooperate on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, the reinvigoration of the world trading system and debt relief for poor countries.

While Scott Morrison joined other G20 leaders in supporting the proposed measures, Australia has already taken targeted …

On Tuesday, Scott Morrison and Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga reached an in-principle agreement on a Japan–Australia defence pact, which will allow closer military cooperation on exercises and shared use of resources, including bases and fuel.

The agreement came as Morrison made his first overseas trip since the outbreak of the …

Asia’s summit season starts this week amid some likely distraction in regional diplomatic circles caused by the US presidential election.

As the summits are being held online due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, officials have had greater access to each other to prepare for the summits. On the other hand, leaders won’t have the …

Counting is underway in the United States election, but the result is currently too close to call.

If Joe Biden wins, the result will be greeted by the country’s allies, Australia included, as a return to normality after four tumultuous years with Donald Trump as president. 

As a longstanding moderate Democrat, former chair of the …

The US presidential election next Tuesday is seen by many Americans as the most consequential in living memory. It will determine how the country responds to its current health and economic crises, and whether Donald Trump’s populism and “America First” world view are aberrations or new norms.

But the election may be almost as important …