Infrastructure and property head the shopping list, with the state-owned Commercial Bank (ICBC) due to put £650 million into a 150-acre business district at Manchester airport, which should generate 16,000 jobs over 15 years. Read Here – The Telegraph, London
Australia’s new government must make tough decisions in defence policy. Australia’s broad national interests and the challenging strategic environment in Indo-Pacific Asia make it essential to modernise the Australian Defence Force. The nation’s defence capabilities remain underfunded and its strategic edge in the region is eroding. The gap between the nation’s interests and capabilities is […]
The departure of Gambia and the fight over the Sri Lankan summit reveal how weak Commonwealth institutions have become. The secretariat is accused of actively dodging any politically sensitive issue, and its reticence to speak out means that the Commonwealth suffers from a very low public profile. A 2009 poll in seven countries showed than […]
The Indo-Pacific ranges from East Africa, across the Indian Ocean, to the western and central Pacific, including Japan and Australia. Within this vast area, cooperation between countries and systems of alliances form, such as cooperation between the U.S., Japan and Australia, countering trends such as China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea and its […]
How should Australia position itself between its traditional ally, the United States, and its major trading partner, China, as their strategic rivalry grows? New Prime Minister Tony Abott’s got to figure that out. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
Kevin Rudd, the once extremely popular Prime Minister of Australia who was humiliatingly knifed by his own party and replaced with his deputy Julia Gillard in his first term of government, managed to resurrect himself to face a near impossible re-election battle. Read Here – AlJazeera
There are as many people in the PRC as there are in North and South America — and Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand — combined. Somebody’s forgetting India! Read Here – The Atlantic
In recent years, China has developed a much more assertive maritime policy. But it would be a dangerous mistake for its neighbors to see an arms race where none currently exists. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
Men from the Commonwealth – and they are men – are taking over the British establishment’s positions of power. Read Here – The Spectator
Instead of joining the race to commercially exploit this pristine region, New Delhi must use its position in the regional council to push for a global mechanism to prevent an unseemly gold rush. Read Here – The Hindu
looking beyond borders 