John Menadue
Publisher and Editor
Callum Foote
Associate Editor
Subscribe to our newsletter
Author Archives: James Curran
Can Biden lead the world with a hole in America’s middle class? (AFR Dec 20, 2020)
Since Joe Biden’s US election win a wave of relief has washed over the foreign policy commentariat. The storyline appears set: with adults back in the room, Washington will relight multilateralism’s torch while displaying a surer touch on alliance management … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, World Affairs
2 Comments
What’s old is new again: Problems of the past and the future in Australia-China relations
The process of conceptualising a new framework for Australian strategic policy will again be full of tension between the pulls of history and the imperatives of geography; between what is and what we would wish to be, between experience which … Continue reading
Posted in China
12 Comments
Trump’s legacy to us (AFR Oct 26, 2020)
Consider the atmosphere now pervading Australian domestic and international life. Trump has alienated the Australian population further from the US. Diplomacy The US President has done precious little for the alliance. And four more years of strategic meandering would leave us … Continue reading
Posted in World Affairs
3 Comments
A dialogue of the deaf as the noisy hawks circle (AFR Sep 16, 2020)
Now that the Australia-China relationship has hit a new low, the timing’s right for charting a way out of the current impasse.
Posted in Politics
24 Comments
Australia at risk of losing subtlety in dealing with China (AFR, Sept 1 2020)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s tough realism on China has sent strong signals to Beijing about where Australia stands. But the danger now is one of being locked into an entrenched position.
Posted in China
Leave a comment
On being ‘very different countries’: AUSMIN and China’s rise (UTS Australia China Relations Institute August 4 2020)
During discussions with American thinkers, analysts and officials in New York and Washington DC in late 2017, one particular conversation gave a chilling insight into how some see the ultimate strategic calculations in US China relations.
Posted in Politics
Leave a comment
‘Haunted’ Morrison adds more fuel to the Asia-Pacific fire
We now know a little more about the prime minister’s fleeting, but significant references to the 1930s in his speech launching the defence update last week.
Posted in Asia, Politics
Leave a comment
Washington’s ‘Cold War’ with Beijing exposes its true view of Australia
Even before the onset of coronavirus, it had become something of a truism to talk of US–China relations plunging into a new era of heightened geopolitical competition.
Posted in World Affairs
Leave a comment
JAMES CURRAN. Canberra’s wolverines threaten our connection (AFR 8.5.20)
Beijing deserves scrutiny for little transparency amid the pandemic, but Australia’s proposal for an inquiry is badly timed.
Posted in Asia, Health, World Affairs
7 Comments
JAMES CURRAN. COVID-19 triggers a reset of domestic and international institutions
As governments try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, they must have a view of the immediate future if they are to act rationally.
Posted in Politics
Leave a comment
JAMES CURRAN. China challenge needs clever diplomacy not shrill crusades(AFR 21.1.2020)
Some Australian politicians are convinced that China is waging political warfare against us. But where is the evidence that they are winning?
Posted in Politics
3 Comments
JAMES CURRAN Our China panic is stepping into the world of paranoia (AFR 10.12.2019)
The China debate is close to losing all sense of rationality and proportion. Where’s the confidence in our institutions?
Posted in Asia, Politics, World Affairs
7 Comments
JAMES CURRAN. Julie Bishop: buffeted by headwinds.
Few can quibble with the accolades that Julie Bishop has received in recent days for the manner in which she performed the role of Australian foreign minister. The first woman to hold the position, she graced the world stage with … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
2 Comments
JAMES CURRAN. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
James Curran spoke to the National Press Club, Canberra, at the launch of his new book ‘Fighting with America’ on 8 December 2016. The alliance is stronger and healthier for its disagreements.
Posted in World Affairs
Leave a comment