A Chinese travel program following encounters with Māori culture shows how ritual, food, performance and shared participation can deepen curiosity and cross-cultural understanding.
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Category: World
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From the haka in Rotorua to dragon boats in Guangdong, respect moves both ways
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Australia’s Japanese migrants are changing with Japan itself
Reflecting shifts in Japan itself, the face of Japanese migration is changing. Those coming to Australia are now motivated by a combination of aspiration, insecurity and risk. (more…)
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History repeats itself – yet again
It is not the first time in history that a campaign to take the Strait of Hormuz has failed. (more…)
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The Catholic Church removes ‘just’ from the theory of war
The Catholic Church has not abandoned the right to self-defence, but it has increasingly rejected the idea that modern war can be morally justified.
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Australia is letting its Indonesia relationship drift
Like marriage, international relations need to be cosseted and cherished. Ours with Indonesia is going the other way through indifference. (more…)
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Iran’s wartime story is being told through art, music and memes
As war reshapes daily life in Iran, citizens are using public gatherings, music, poetry, religious chanting, memes and AI-generated videos to reclaim agency and community.
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Public life needs fewer empty notes – Message from the Editor
Public life is loud, reactive and full of people mistaking noise for importance. But there is a difference between speaking when something must be said and simply filling the silence. (more…)
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FIFA has given up its responsibility to keep politics out of football
FIFA claims political neutrality, but its treatment of Palestinian football shows an organisation willing to accommodate occupation, apartheid and Israeli impunity. (more…)
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China rises as trust in Trump’s America falls
New Pew Research Centre data shows China is now seen in a more positive light than the US in most of 37 countries surveyed and more people, overall, now say they have confidence in Xi rather than Trump. (more…)
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Indonesia’s rupiah problem is now a credibility problem
Bank Indonesia faces an increasingly difficult trade-off between stabilising the rupiah and supporting growth. (more…)
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Double hedging in the Indo-Pacific
Countries in Asia are hedging against China’s regional ambitions and against the uncertainty projected by the Trump administration. Australia is part of this process. (more…)
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The fantasy world of Hegseth’s testosterone bomb
Pete Hegseth’s testosterone militarism and calls to escalate against Iran reveal the dangerous fantasies shaping US war thinking. (more…)
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What if Trump takes the nuclear option?
It’s difficult to believe how misguided, counter-productive and dangerous American foreign policy has become under Trump. It’s even harder to believe it could get much worse. But it could – much, much worse. (more…)
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Ukraine: America’s enduring proxy war on Russia
Eisenhower warned that US policy could be captured by a military-industrial and scientific-technological elite. Ukraine is now paying the price.
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Why Spain’s World Cup win felt like a victory for Gaza
Gaza has rearranged the world’s moral geography. Once-distant countries feel close because they have spoken when others are silent. At the World Cup final, that moral geography was evident in the football stands. (more…)
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Football brought the world together; FIFA sold the crowd
The World Cup created a rare global community, then FIFA and Trump tried to turn it into advertising inventory, spectacle and political theatre.
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Andy Burnham needs more than managerialism as Britain’s new PM
Britain’s new prime minister must tackle regional inequality and build a national narrative explaining England’s place in the UK, Europe and the world.
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Bangladesh needs a national movement to care for trees
Bangladesh’s future depends not just on roads, bridges and buildings. It needs trees to be planted and nurtured to maturity to ensure the country’s resilience. (more…)
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Australia has served in Africa but failed to learn from it
Australia has contributed to African peacekeeping missions for decades, but that record has rarely translated into sustained policy knowledge or engagement.
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The myth they sell and the values they betray
In the second of a two-part series, Robin Brown and Nick Bogiatzis show how it is the politicians most loudly claiming to defend “Western values” who are among the most dedicated to undermining them. (more…)
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Europe talks tough on China but lacks a plan
Europe is alarmed by Chinese overcapacity, deindustrialisation and US pressure, but remains divided over how to turn tough China rhetoric into policy. (more…)
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US strike leaves thousands without drinking water in southern Iran
US attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure have escalated the conflict, with Tehran accusing Washington of violating the Islamabad MOU and suspending its own commitments. (more…)
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A new multi-nodal world is taking shape
In remarks delivered to Chinese participants in the Cambridge Executive Leadership Program, Chas Freeman argues that 500 years of Euro-Atlantic dominance has come to an end.
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Concentrated power crushing freedom of expression in Cambodia
What an edition of a Siam Reap newspaper reveals about law and politics in Cambodia and constraints on freedom of speech. (more…)
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For Putin, anything short of victory is defeat
Russia is feeling the cost of the war, but Putin’s authority rests on victory, force and fear. Lasting peace would require a political reckoning. (more…)
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New ‘G Minus 2’ order, Trump red-line test, and sea’s real battles – Asian Media Report
Nations’ new ways of working together, Xi’s nuclear deterrent display, scandal probe’s link to scandal probe, South China Sea’s geopolitical reality, Korean company’s record market listing, and the region’s shadow baby trade.
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From Astral Weeks to the “Iron Cage”: Van Morrison and the disenchantment of the World
Van Morrison’s career traces a cultural movement from youthful openness and spiritual wonder towards bitterness, calculation and disenchantment. (more…)
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The world does not need more risk managers
Politics and institutions are increasingly governed by risk management, not leadership. But real leadership requires imagination, courage and the willingness to challenge false stories.
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When census takers come calling, truth gets complicated
Indonesia’s economic census is meant to produce a snapshot of the nation, but distrust of officials and fears about privacy may blur the picture.
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The Iran deal failed because it was built to break
The Islamabad Memorandum did not collapse simply because shipping attacks resumed. It failed because Washington and Tehran signed one text while understanding the bargain differently.