Issue Analysis
Issue Analysis (IA) are shorter publications that deal with controversial and current issues.
Categories
Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards
Government programs to upskill the Australian workforce for the Asian Century are a solution to a non-problem. With more than a million Asian-born Australians, millions of speakers of Asian languages,... Read More
Australia's Asia Literacy Non-Problem
New large-scale Asia literacy programs are not necessary for Australia to prosper in the Asian Century. There are approximately 2 billion English speakers globally, while English is spoken by about 800... Read More
Europe’s Painful Farewell: An Essay on the Decline of the Old World
Europe is a continent in crisis. The financial problems of many European economies became visible to the rest of world when Greece only narrowly escaped bankruptcy in May 2010. Ever since, more unpleasant... Read More
China’s Insecurity and Search for Power
Although China feels vulnerable now, there is no doubt that it intends to eventually supersede American power and influence in our region. Read More
The Bipolar Pacific
Guest-worker schemes, which have been proposed as a development solution for the Pacific, no doubt benefit the individuals lucky enough to be selected to participate. But even high guest-worker numbers,... Read More
Putting Democracy in China on Hold
Since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, China has moved closer to a market economy but further away from a democratic state. The impetus for democracy has been lost over the past two decades. Read More
Five Out of Ten: A Performance Report on the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI)
The Solomon Islands is stagnating despite 30 years of aid flows of hundreds of millions of dollars, innumerable consultants’ reports and development pledges. This year will mark the fifth anniversary... Read More
Australia and the Future of Nuclear Deterrence
Strategic developments in North Asia are being driven by North Korea’s dangerous missile and nuclear brinkmanship, as well as by the rapid pace of China’s force modernisation. It is an open question... Read More
The HIV/AIDS Crisis in Papua New Guinea
The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea has created a health emergency, with at least 120,000 Papua New Guineans likely to have HIV/AIDS. If present rising infection trends persist, 18% of the... Read More
Time for a Change in Tonga: From Monarchy to Modernity
Despite years of generous aid and high education and health expenditure, Tonga has failed to grow substantially in the last 30 years. The royal family and the ‘nobility’ must accept responsibility... Read More
Vision or Fiction? Prospects of Regional Integration in the South Pacific
Stephan Freitag discusses approaches to economic integration against the reality in trade and presents examples of sectoral integration and regional organisation to evaluate proposals for economic integration... Read More
Annals of Aid: Vanuatu and The United States Millenium Challenge Corporation
Without fundamental reforms in land tenure, Vanuatu cannot increase its output and productivity. Without a thoroughgoing reform of the way that bureaucrats deal with the private sector, there can be no... Read More
Make Poverty History: Tackle Corruption
The results of the latest international survey of corruption reveal huge international differences. Poor countries tend to be more corrupt than developed, affluent countries, mainly because of foreign... Read More
Papua New Guinea’s Choice: A Tale of Two Nations
The recent withdrawal of the Australian police is disastrous for the people of Papua New Guinea. The police deployed under the Enhanced Cooperation Programme had only been in place for six months, but... Read More
The Pacific is Viable!
Whilst all is relatively quiet in the Pacific, there is still no growth. With aid runing at more than $1.5 billion a year to cushion the effects of stagnation, Pacific governments continue to opt for inaction.... Read More
A Voluntary Free Trade Alliance: How to Overcome Hurdles in the Path of Traders and Investors
The 'Global Free Trade Alliance' would promote free exchanges between nations on a voluntary basis and could become a ‘World Trade Organisation Plus’ among nations that already enjoy a rather high... Read More
From Riches to Rags What Are Nauru’s Options and How Can Australia Help?
Thirty years after enjoying the world’s second highest per capita GDP after Saudi Arabia, Nauru is on the verge of insolvency, has appalling health problems and was declared one of the first ‘rogue’... Read More
Can Papua New Guinea Come Back From the Brink?
After seven months of wrangling, arrangements to deploy more than 260 Australian police and other officials to Papua New Guinea have finally been made. PNG, in addition to restoring law and order, needs... Read More
Aid Has Failed the Pacific
The Pacific islands are an arc of instability threatening Australia’s security. While current problems are of considerable strategic concern to Australia, the principal victims are the people of the... Read More
Papua New Guinea on the Brink
Papua New Guinea shows every sign of following its Melanesian neighbour, the Solomon Islands, down the path to economic decline, government collapse and social despair. Potential flashpoints further afield... Read More
Towards Racial Harmony: A New Constitution for Fiji
A new constitution that decentralises collective political power is the best way to achieve stability in Fiji by empowering Fijians to devise solutions for the variety of complex problems they now face. Read More
Breaking the Trade Stalemate: What Are Australia’s Options?
Australia’s best hope of long-term trade liberalisation lies in signing a free trade agreement with the United States. Preferential liberalisation of trade may be the only way to break the present stalemate... Read More
Setting the Record Straight: Free Trade and the WTO
By allowing social issues into the WTO agenda using tenuous links to trade policy, the WTO Council has placed the organisation at the vanguard of political skirmishing over globalisation. Read More
Rear Vision on Trade Policy: Wrong Way, Go Forward
Policies affecting trade flows do not begin or end in the international arena: Decisions about reducing protection must be implemented at home. Without increasing our competitiveness through improved technology,... Read More
Open for Business? Australian Interests and the OECD's Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)
The proposed OECD’s Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), which the Australian government has been helping to negotiate, will not mean a dramatic change to Australia’s current practice in controlling... Read More
