MYSTERIOUS: 19 - You Need To See This

Foreign policy has been missing from NZ's election campaign – voters deserve answers to these big questions

Tax cuts, crime, the cost of living, potholes and co-governance … these and various other issues are now familiar to most voters. But there has been one major election area missing the serious debate it needs: foreign policy.

The Conversation · Sep 29, 2023

‘Baby steps’ for ASEAN as it wraps up first-ever joint military drills

The exercise focused on humanitarian relief as the regional grouping makes tentative steps towards military cooperation.

Al Jazeera · Sep 25, 2023

In 10 years Australia went from Abbott to Albanese – but how much has really changed?

In the decade since I began this Guardian column much about Australian politics has made me despair – and yet there are still reasons to hope

The Guardian - AU · Sep 23, 2023

New Zealand’s strategic priority in the Indo-Pacific is not AUKUS – it's helping to defeat Russia in Ukraine

The debate in New Zealand over whether to join “pillar two” of the AUKUS security partnership threatens to overshadow a more important foreign policy challenge: how the country’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region are responding to the war in Ukraine.

The Conversation · Sep 13, 2023

Albanese’s China trip suggests a smoother relationship rather than a cosy one

A key calculation of the Australian PM’s team is that dialogue is of value, even if both sides agree to disagree

The Guardian - AU · Sep 8, 2023

Isolating China would be a mistake, says UK foreign secretary

On trip to Beijing, James Cleverly says Britain is ‘clear-eyed’ about its disagreements with world’s second largest economy

The Guardian - UK · Aug 30, 2023

Japan and South Korea should be invited to join Aukus, UK parliamentary committee says

Influential UK foreign affairs select committee recommends Japan and South Korea join the security partnership to develop critical technology

The Guardian - AU · Aug 30, 2023

Talk of a new Cold War is overheated – but NZ faces complex challenges in the era of ‘strategic competition’

As the general election nears, the campaign focus so far has been almost exclusively on domestic issues. And yet, over the past two months, no fewer than five government documents have been released outlining the significant defence and security challenges the country now faces.

The Conversation · Aug 28, 2023

The defence dilemma facing NZ's next government: stay independent or join 'pillar 2' of AUKUS?

Strategy, as the great military thinker Carl von Clausewitz once observed, is the process of effectively applying means to achieve clearly defined ends. But good strategy in global politics has proved easier said than done.

The Conversation · Aug 23, 2023

New water plan announced – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

The Guardian - AU · Aug 21, 2023