Publications
Our publications are the most important means of contact between the Centre's ideas and its general readership. Since 1976, The Centre for Independent Studies has produced some of the most authoritative publications in Australasian academia. From the influential Lands of Shame to the authoritative Will China Fail? CIS has published hundreds of publications covering topics from the social policy to legal affairs to religion and education.
In addition to books, the CIS publishes a range of shorter publications: Issue Analyses deal with controversial and current issues and Policy Mongraphs investigate and offer policy solutions. Since 1984, Policy magazine has published feature articles and reviews authored by some of the foremost national and international thinkers on public policy and ideas. The quality of writing and the diversity of topics in Policy ensure its status as a 'must read' by leading politicans, businesspeople and academics.
Hard copies of our publications are available for purchase through the bookstore. Many of the smaller publications are also available for download.
CONTRIBUTIONS
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All Foreign Policy Publications
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...
Future Submarine Project Should Raise Periscope for Another Look
Australia should not spend $40 billion to repeat the mistakes of the Collins Class submarine. Nuclear submarines, such as...
BOOK REVIEW: The World America Made
The World America MadeBy Robert KaganReviewed by Benjamin Herscovitch
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...
Southeast Asia’s American Embrace
All Southeast Asian states want to take advantage of the benefits of a rising China, yet none wants it to be in a position...
The Kingdom of God is Forcefully Advancing and Forceful Men Lay Hold of It
In the CIS’s annual Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, Senator David Coltart discusses the application of biblical...
INTERVIEW: Australia and the Rise of China
Paul Monk tells Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe that China's rise could require tough decisions about accommodating or resisting...
BOOK REVIEW: The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of World Economy
The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of World Economy by Dani Rodrik (New York, 2011.)
FEATURE: Taming the Dogs of War: Why Parliament Should Authorise Major Deployments
Parliament and the courts could spare Australia from ill-advised military action.
Malaysian Dilemma: The Enduring Cancer of Affirmative Action
In March 2010, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a New Economic Model (NEM) for Malaysia. These include pledges to wind-back...
Jakarta's Juggling Act: Balancing China and America in the Asia-Pacific
Indonesia is emerging as a significant player in Southeast Asia’s security architecture. Its prime foreign policy concern...
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...
Empires on the Edge of Chaos: The Nasty Fiscal Arithmetic of Imperial Decline
In the 26th John Bonython lecture, Niall Ferguson, one of the world’s leading geo-economic thinkers and best-selling author...
After the Wall – Reflections on the Legacy of 1989
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it marked the end of the Cold War and of Eastern European communism. Two decades on, The...
INTERVIEW: Afghanistan's Critical Year
Major General Jim Molan tells Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe that Australia should invest greater resources in Afghanistan.
Unrealised Potential: India’s ‘Soft Power’ Ambition in Asia
This paper makes the argument that India’s enormous ‘soft power’ potential in Asia is based on the fact that a rising...
BOOK REVIEW: When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World
When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World by Martin Jacques (Allen Lane,...
BOOK REVIEW: The New Vichy Syndrome—Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism
The New Vichy Syndrome—Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism by Theodore Dalrymple (Encounter Books, 2010.)
BOOK REVIEW: Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times
Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.)
FEATURE: Plan B for Dealing with North Korea
If North Korea refuses to give up its nuclear ambitions, all palatable options will have run out.
FEATURE: Losing Tomorrow Today: Islamising Germany
A new generation of collaborators is caving in to the new conquerors of Europe.
FEATURE: The Geo-Political Shape of Asia in 2020
Despite China's current rise, the strategic environment in Asia is changing more slowly than many believe.
The Fantasy of Taming China’s Rise
In The Fantasy of Taming China’s Rise, Dr John Lee, CIS Foreign Policy Research Fellow, argues that the belief that China...
FEATURE: Open the Borders
Classical liberals should support the free movement of people.
BOOK REVIEW: Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe be the same with different people in it?
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe Be the Same with Different People in It? by Christopher Caldwell (Penguin,...
BOOK REVIEW: Reflections On The Revolution In Europe: Can Europe Be The Same With Different People In It?
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe Be the Same with Different People in It? by Christopher Caldwell (Penguin,...
FEATURE: After the Wall: Twenty Years On
A look at Germany's unification history.
The importance of India: restoring sight to Australia’s strategic blind spot
The paper traces the rise of ‘strategic India’ in Asia, the significance of the remarkable improvement in the US-India...
BOOK REVIEW: The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars In the Midst of a Big One
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen (Scribe Publications, 2009).
Why America will lead the 'Asian Century'
The beginning of the end of America’s strategic primacy in Asia is commonly predicted. We are supposed to be entering a...
BOOK REVIEW: The Rotten State of Britain
The Rotten State of Britain by Eamonn Butler (Gibson Square, 2009)
FEATURE: Does Europe Still Matter?
Europe's economic weakness is a problem for Australia.
FEATURE: Is China Really an 'East Asian Success Story'?
State-controlled investment in China provides poor financial returns.
Will China Fail: The Limits and Contradictions of Market Socialism 2nd Edition
With the onset of the global economic crisis, China remains one of the only major economies likely to avoid recession. Released...
BOOK REVIEW: Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work In Contemporary China
Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China by Anne-Marie Brady (Rowman & Littlefield,...
BOOK REVIEW: Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis
Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis by Mike Cinoy (St Martin's Press, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: The Post-American World
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008).
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...
BOOK REVIEW: Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade
Rivals: How The Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade by Bill Emmott (Allen Lane, 2008).
The Bipolar Pacific
Guest-worker schemes, which have been proposed as a development solution for the Pacific, no doubt benefit the individuals...
Anglo Primacy and the End of History: The Deep Roots of Power
The 24th Annual John Bonython Lecture Whether the United States should lead the world is much debated, but American primacy...
FEATURE: The Illegal Pacific, Part 1: Organised Crime
Until the islands establish the rule of law, they will continue to suffer from the 'dark side' of globalisation.
OPINION: The OECD Cringe
Australian policy should be judged by our own priorities and circumstances, not the OECD average.
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....
FEATURE: Suffer The Intellectuals
An explanation of why predictions by intellectuals so often turn out to be wrong.
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’...
FEATURE: The False Promise of 'Market Socialism' in China
Despite the hype, China is not evolving into a 'successful dictatorship'.
BOOK REVIEW: Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present
Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren (W.W. Norton, 2007).
BOOK REVIEW: Super-State: The New Europe and Its Challenge to America
Super-State: The New Europe and its Challenge to America by Steohen Haseler (IBTauris, 2005).
BOOK REVIEW: The Looming Tower: Al-Quaeda and the Road to 9/11
The Looming Tower: Al-Quaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (Allen Lane, 2006).
FEATURE: What Creates Comparative Advantage for Drug Production? Lessons from Columbia
Political and social problems in Columbia created opportunities for illegal drug production, explains similar Francisco E...
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...
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...
BOOK REVIEW: The Partnership: The Inside Story of the US-Australian Alliance Under Howard and Bush
The Partnership: The Inside Story of the US-Australian Alliance Under Howard and Bush by Greg Sheridan (New South Books,...
BOOK REVIEW: The White Man's Burden
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have DoneSo Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly...
COMMENT: The Unholy Alliance
The Western left and Islamic radicals are finding common causes.
INTERVIEW: Jihad In The Near North
Dominic Rolfe talks to Sidney Jones about Islamist movements in Indonesia and other south-east Asian countries.
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...
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...
COMMENT: The Falcon and the Falconer
To more effectively combat terrorism, we need to understand why homegrown Western converts turn against their own societies.
Should Australia and New Zealand Open Their Doors to Guest Workers From the Pacific? Costs and Benefits
Should Australia and New Zealand depart from their long term immigration policies to provide work places for short term seasonal...
BOOK REVIEW: Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 by Tony Judt (William Heinemann, 2005).
FEATURE: Australia's Position in Asia: Closer Than Ever
John Howards' Government has improved Australia's relations with Asian countries.
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...
FEATURE: Anti-Americanism Past and Present
The recent upsurge in anti-Americanism has a long history.
REVIEW ESSAY: Mao- The Abhorrent Tyrant and How His Economic Legacy Has Been Overcome
Mao, The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday (Jonathan Cape, 2005).
Make Poverty History: Tackle Corruption
The results of the latest international survey of corruption reveal huge international differences. Poor countries tend to...
INTERVIEW: The West in an Asian Century
Susan Windybank interviews Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished former diplomat and scholar from Singapore: dubbed 'the Max...
Between Two Worlds. Australian Foreign Policy Responses to New and Old Security Dilemmas
Globalisation has connected these two worlds through ease of travel, communications and financial flows, but it has not integrated...
Alliance: The View from America
The Occasional Paper aims to 'de-parochialise' the debate in Australia by asking how Americans think about the alliance.
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...
BOOK REVIEW: The Geopolitics of East Asia: The Search for Equilibrium
The Geopolitics of East Asia: The Search for Equilibrium by Robyn Lim (Routledge, 2003).
FEATURE: Morality and Foreign Policy
Prudence has an important place in foreign policy.
FEATURE: Tribalism in the Arab Mena Region
Arab tribalism is a drag on development and reform.
INTERVIEW: The Thoughtful Superhawk
Susan Windybank speaks Robert Kagan about his controversial thesis and America's role in the world.
America and the World: The Crisis of Legitimacy
America is suffering a crisis of international legitimacy. So where will it find it?
BOOK REVIEW: The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America
The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America by John Micklewait and Adrian Wooldridge (The Penguin Press, 2004).
FEATURE: Locked in: Australia Gets a Bad Intellectual Property Deal
The intellectual property provisions of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement are an unfortunate policy shift.
FEATURE: Unfinished Business: Reforming Our Intelligence Agencies
Terrorism is not the only urgent issue our intelligence agents must face.
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...
Morality and Foreign Policy
Owen Harries explores the intellectual heritage of two opposing positions on morality in foreign policy; the hands-off realist...
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...
FEATURE: The Foresight Saga: Risk, Litigiousness and Negligence Law Reforms
Tort law reform has gone too far, and contracts could usefully determine compensation in some cases.
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,...
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...
BOOK REVIEW: Making Australian Foreign Policy
Making Australian Foreign Policy by Allan Gyngell and Michael Wesley (Cambridge University Press, 2003.)
REVIEW ESSAY: The Private Provision of All Security
One Liberal Mile Too Far The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production Edited by...
COMMENT: The Policy Shift the Media Missed
Australia's emerging national security strategy.
FEAUTURE: Does Size Matter? Tuvalu and Nauru Compared
Tuvalu and Nauru are both small Pacific states, but Nauru has been badly governed.
BOOK REVIEW: Art of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations
Art of Creation: The Founding of The United States by Stephen C. Schlesinger (Westview Press, 2003).
Gulliver Unbound - Can America Rule the World?
America's combination of political, military, economic and cultural predominance is without precedent, and there is nothing...
Aid Has Failed the Pacific
The Pacific islands are an arc of instability threatening Australia’s security. While current problems are of considerable...
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,...
BOOK REVIEW: Recreating Asia: Visions For a New Century
Recreating Asia: Visions for a New Century: by Frank-Jurgen Richter and Pamela C.M. Mar (John Wiley, 2002).
COMMENT: The Culture of Guilt
Like welfare dependency in developed countries, aid dependency in developed countries has entrenched a 'handout' mentality...
COMMENT: The Terror Trap
Despite its high hopes and resolute rhetoric, the 'war on terror' is disturbingly similar to America's 'war on poverty' and...
REVIEW ARTICLE: Engagement with Asia Revisited
Continental Drift: Australia's Search for a Regional Identity by Rawdon Dalyrmple (Ashgate, 2003).
Sustainable Immigration and Cultural Integration
Professor Kasper outlines the benefits of past migration. He points out that Australians can be justifiably proud of the...
Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers : A Global View
A worldwide excess of demand for immigration means that Western countries cannot accommodate more than a small proportion...
Has History Restarted Since September 11?
Francis Fukuyama argues that the fracture line over globalisation could turn out to be a division, not between West and the...
Understanding America
Our most urgent need is to understand America - both in terms of what it is and its impact on the world - for current US...
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...
FEATURE: Trouble in 'Paradise': The Africanisation of the South Pacific
Some of the problems that have plagued states in sub-saharan Africa may well be emerging in the South Pacific as well.
FEATURE: Learning Racial Harmony: Fiji Needs New Constitutional Rules
The situation in Fiji has deteriorated to the point where new constitutional ground rules seem the only way to overcome irreconcilable...
COMMENT: Towards a Liberal Theory of International Relations
The Rationalist school, with its emphasis on the existence of an international society, is arguably the most liberal of the...
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....
CRITICAL REVIEW: A Crisis of Democracy- Again
Disaffected Democracies: What's Troubling the Trilateral Countries? Edited by Susan Pharr and Robert Putnam (Princeton University...
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...
COMMENT: A Recovery Plan for East Timor
There can be little doubt that Australia, bar its military initiative, has assumed a measure of at least temporary co-responsibility...
FEATURE: Civil Society and Development: The Missing Link
Societies in East Asia are in a process of democratisation. The process of democratic consolidation and the nature of democracy...
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...
INTERVIEW: Exchange Rates, Banking and Thatcherism
Sir Alan Walters speaks to Charles Richardson.
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,...
Nationality
Is the nation state the best form of political organisation? Should a country’s borders be based on racial or linguistic...
BOOK REVIEW: Tigers: Leaders of the New Asia-Pacific
Tigers: Leaders of the New Asia Pacific by Greg Sheridan (Allen & Unwin, 1997.)
BOOK REVIEW: Thinking About Law: Perspectives On The History, Philosophy and Sociology of Law
Thinking About Law: Perspectives On The History, Philosophy and Sociology of Law edited by Rosemary Hunter, Richard Ingleby...
BOOK REVIEW: Migrations and Cultures: A World View
Migration and Cultures: A World View by Thomas Sowell (Basic Books, 1996.)
COMMENT: Australia's Competitiveness Two Years On
'Competitiveness' has been the economic buzz word of the past two and a half decades.
FEATURE: Singapore and 'Asian Values'
The price of Asian authoritarianism.
COMMENT: Privatisation Experience: The Czech Case
The systematic transformation of the Czech Republic in the post-communist world.
FEATURE: Silk Purse or Sow's Ear: Canberra's Recent Approaches to Regional Development Policy
Now is not a golden age for regional policy.
FEATURE: Japan's MITI: A Role Model for Australia and New Zealand?
Japan's success may be despite, rather than because of, MITI.
BOOK REVIEW: Antarctica: Private Property or Public Heritage
Antarctica: Private Property or Public Heritage by Keith Suter (Pluto Press, Sydney, 1991.)
Australia's Asian Challenge
The proceedings of the Autumn Public Policy Forum in the 1994 Bert Kelly lecture series Sydney, 24 February 1994. Three experts...
FEATURE: East Asian Dynamism and Pacific Cooperation
Fading prospects for a successful conclusion to the GATT Uruguay Round are directing attention to regional trading arrangements....
BOOK REVIEW: Military Politics in the Asia-Pacific Region
The Military, the State and Development in Asia and the Pacific edited by Viberto Selochan (Westview, Boulder, San Francisco...
BOOK REVIEW: Surveying the South Pacific
The South Pacific: Problems, Issues and Prospects edited by Ramesh Thakur (Macmillan, London in association with the University...
NOTES & COMMENTS: Private Property Rights and Economic Growth
The Case of Rural China 1979-87.
BOOK REVIEW: How The Poor Help The Poor
Where Credit Is Due: Income Generating Programmes For The Poor In Developing Countries by Joe Remenyi (IT Publications, 1991.)
BOOK REVIEW: Community or Area?
Rethinking the Pacific by Gerald Segal (Oxford University Press, 1990.)
REVIEW: Causes of Fiji's Peace
Race and Politics in Fiji by Robert Norton (University of Queensland Press, 1990.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Bork Episode
The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law by Robert Bork (The Free Press, 1989.)
Bougainville: The Mine and the People
In Paul Quodling's judgement, the two issues of the political conflict on Bougainville and the future of the Panguna mine...
NOTES & COMMENTS: The Economic Case for an Open-Door Immigration Policy
A discussion of the Harrison rule and immigration.
NOTES & COMMENTS: Rejoinder to Clarke and Ng
A rejoinder to Clarke and Ng's The Economic Case for an Open-Door Immigration Policy.
Aid and Development in the South Pacific
The political economy of the South Pacific is dominated by foreign aid. This promotes domestic statism, which in turn retards...
FEATURE: Aid For Employment?
Lack of employment opportunities is a major source of poverty in many developing countries. A discussion of whether and how...
FEATURE: Britain and European Union: The Broader Issues
This article sets out the philosophy of the Bruges Group and speculates on the likely impact of recent political changes...
BOOK REVIEW: Foreign Policy In The 1990s
In Pursuit of National Interests: Australian Foreign Policy In The 1990s edited by F. A. Mediansky and A. C. Palfreeman (Pergamon...
BOOK REVIEW: Keeping The Pacific Peaceful
Strategy and the South-West Pacific: An Australian Perspective by Owen Harries (Pacific Security Research Institute, 1989.)
Economic Control or Economic Development
P.T. Bauer argues that wide-ranging state controls hinder the development of Third World economies.
FEATURE: Is America Declining?
The idea that America is in a state of economic and military decline is just one of an endless succession of apocalyptic...
FEATURE: Japanese Investment: Their Money, Our Terms
Rising levels of Japanese investment in Australian land and industry have generated fears that Australia is becoming a Japanese...
FEATURE: Improving Australia's Refugee Resettlement Policy
Australia has a good record for accomodating and resettling refugees. The case for a self-determining system of refugee immigration...
FEATURE: Auctioning the Immigration Quota
The immigration debate is at present off the boil, but is unlikely to remain so for long. Mark Harrison suggests a way of...
Fiji: Opportunity from Adversity?
The situation in Fiji has deteriorated to the point where new constitutional ground rules seem the only way to overcome irreconcilable...
UNCTAD and the North-South Dialogue
It is common for governments of wester industrialised nations (the ‘North; in the title) to allocate healthy portions of...
