United States president Barack Obama and Japan’s prime minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged on April 30 to strengthen their security alliance – a new effort to project unity between Washington and its Asian partners as a counterweight to ...

Whatever Prime Minister Julia Gillard may have said when she decided to announce that Australian troops would begin pulling out this year – with most home before the end of 2013 – it is now clear that our foreign policy will be enmeshed with ...

As the hand-wringing over Syria goes on the United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton is not the only leader saying “we cannot sit back and wait any longer”. Yet that is precisely what is happening. The outside world lacks the will ...

The art of diplomacy has changed radically since Philip Flood joined the Australian foreign service more than half a century ago at the age of 22. Since then he’s been ambassador to Indonesia, high commissioner in London, head  of the Office of ...

Far from abating, the euro crisis has recently taken a turn for the worse. Not our words, but from the pen of the billionaire philanthropist and investor George Soros, who

These are just some of the subjects the current group of interns at the Glover Cottages have been researching – and at this special evening each of them will be making a short presentation on the results.   All of these subjects are ...

Federal treasurer Wayne Swan and others have repeatedly warned of the potential threat to Australia’s economy from unfolding events in the European Union, and, in particular, to the impact of the European debt problem. But what exactly is ...

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), is at the front line of international conflict and humanitarian crises politics. While focused on helping and healing those whose very survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. ...

Since the Chinese and Russian veto of the UN Security Council Resolution on Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Syrian leader has redoubled the military assault on his opponents, ignoring any distinction between civilians and armed ...

There is no international consensus on how close Iran is to having a usable nuclear weapon. Attempts by the IAEA inspectors to visit a key site in Iran recently were re-buffed again, leaving the inspectors 

Australia’s policy on asylum seekers and immigration can be a dividing force in Australian society. Yet it can be argued - and indeed has been acknowledged - that ...

The AIIA NSW is holding this important event precisely one week ahead of Super Tuesday, normally the date when the largest number of primaries take place, providing a clear indication of ...

Only when an opposition group brings down Kim Jong-un will reform and opening up of North Korea become possible... Professor Cal Jian, Fudan University It could be up to two or three years before it ...

The United States has now fully restored diplomatic relations with Myanmar, following the release of significant political prisoners.

Of all the developments that will attract significant attention in 2012 the Russian presidential election - which Vladimir Putin, currently prime minister after two presidential terms, hopes to regain the top spot in the Kremlin will be one of the ...

We shall begin our 2012 season on Sunday, January 29 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales where two of our most distinguished members, Professor Jocelyn Chey, AO, and Dr Stephen Fitzgerald, Australia’s first ...

This is our final meeting for 2011, in a year that has been dominated by discussion about asylum seekers and refugees.  At this meeting, our focus will not be on boat people or people smugglers - or the jostling over policy between ...

The media coverage of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, better known as CHOGM, was below its normally poor levels, despite the fact the Commonwealth of Nations represents 54 independent countries, two billion people and one ...

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd will be the  guest of honour at the Australian Institute of International Affairs annual Charteris Dinner to be held at Tattersalls Club in Sydney on November ...

Over a recent 25-year period, energy consumption in the Asian region grew at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent, greatly exceeding the world average of 1.9 per cent. Both China and India have energy growth rates well above the Asian average. China has ...

In late October members of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), accompanied by officials from Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will be in Beijing for the annual Track1.5 strategic dialogue between Australia and China. ...

POSTPONED:  THIS EVENT WITH THE UNITED STATES CONSUL GENERAL IN SYDNEY, Niels Marquardt, HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL 2012

From World War II to Afghanistan television pictures are etched in our minds of stretcher bearers and paramedics wearing Red Cross badges moving across the line of fire to rescue the wounded and move them into ambulances or ...

The Prime Minister has commissioned a white paper from Ken Henry on the changes in Asia and their impact on Australia.

With Peter Khalil, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for International Security Studies at Sydney University    The 2011 pro-democracy demonstrations across the Middle East and North ...

Come and select your new council. There are ten candidates for six seats, as outlined in the notice below.  

Turkey, according to George Friedman, author of two recent books The Next 100 Years and The Next Decade, is set to become a significant global power. The European Union is being ...

Roger Gyles, chairman of TIA, and Michael Ahrens, executive director, will lead a discussion on the issues confronting Australians in the context of globalization and the severe impact of corruption in many countries in the ...

The Asian security landscape is changing at a dramatic rate as China ventures into blue water capability, the Korean peninsula remains as tense as ever and Southeast Asian nations are developing their own military capability commensurate with their ...

REGISTRATION CLOSED 19/08/11         With acclaimed journalist and documentary film maker John Pilger  ...

  India’s emergence as a significant political and economic global power has had wide-

Presented by  Professor Richard Rigby & Colin Chapman During the days of what was called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, China's chairman Mao Zedong used regularly to insist "we will recapture Taiwan". Later, ...

Suddenly, the fear of a second GFC is spooking investors around the world.  How will this affect the future economic development of the Pacific region? Few would be better placed to provide us with the answers than our guest, Gavin ...

Meet a World Authority on Nuclear Weapons, Hans M Kristensen   The threat of nuclear war is seldom in the headlines, but it always with us. The prospect of a nuclear holocaust was ever present in the Cold War, but has now receded as Russia ...

Foreign policy is one area of government where most issues are bipartisan, as both sides of politics present a united front in pursuit of Australia’s national interest abroad.

ABC’s 4 Corners programme has recently screened the acclaimed documentary, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields from Channel 4 in Britain.  The program forensically investigates allegations that up to 40,000 Tamil ...

Europe continues to draw attention for a variety of reasons. The economy is one, and perhaps the most pressing for now. However, there are other, more systemic issues at hand as the security landscape evolves, NATO's relevance is questioned, immigration ...

Vietnam was at war for almost all of the 20th century. But after humiliating the French and the United States, ...

There has been much talk of late about how China’s rise will affect international relations. Two big ideas dominate this ...

Terrorism in Indonesia has as of recent dropped off the radar—in Australia at least—given the lack of recent high profile incidents. But what goes largely unnoticed by the public  are the comprehensive ...

On July 1, Poland takes up the presidency of the European Union. In picking up the baton from France for the second half of this year, Polish ...

On the surface, the figures all look good. The Financial Times reports ...

The clinical execution of Osama Bin Laden in his redoubt in Pakistan has reminded us again of ...

On Wednesday May 11, the NSW AIIA will be hosting an evening with Nigel Roberts, Director of the World Bank's World Developement Report 2011. As his only public address in Sydney to launch this ...

In the space of only three months, we have seen political unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. There are also signs of latent political volatility elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, which are the pivotal oil exporting region ...

 The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has rekindled support for the monarchy in Britain, and may also have done so here. The debate on ABC’s Q and A was inconclusive, ...

The United Nations, now in its seventh decade, can claim many achievements but it also has many detractors. Even admirers of the organization admit that its reform process is incomplete. Yet the world depends on its developmental and relief efforts, ...

NATO has been a cornerstone of security in Europe—and of United States foreign ...

From the perspectives of humanitarian aid, human development and human rights, contributing to global efforts to bridge the digital divide should be an urgent and central priority of Australia’s aid program. ...

“What is Nigeria’s role in contemporary international politics?”   Presentation by: H.E. Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign ...

Russell Hill, home of the Australian Defence Department in Canberra is under pressure. The 2009

It is not often that we are able to put together an event which ...

As Italy seeks to use its forces to halt the influx of boats carrying illegal immigrants from North Africa, the debate in Australia over how to tackle the issues of illegal immigrants and ...

It has become de rigueur in political and intellectual circles to accept that Australia is drawing closer to Asia. Both the present and the previous government espouse the concept ...

Yemen is the Arab world’s poorest country, but it is not without strategic significance, located at the apex of the Red Sea and the Indian ocean, with a long border with one of the ...

  Mubarak's departure: the consequences for the Middle East  

Please note that this event is now full and registration has closed. Why do many of those who lead Australia - and many other countries - so often present a misleading picture of ...

Annette Shun Wah will be in conversation with Roger Law. A recent study of 339 young people aged 14 to 17 who live in Sydney's west and ...

The short but successful visit by US President Barack Obama to Mumbai and Delhi earlier this month was a reminder of the growing importance of India,  as the centre of global economic gravity moves to the Asia Pacific region. After a few ...

Australia’s relationship with China will arguably be the most important determinant in meeting Australia’s key national interests this century. Former AIIA National Vice President Geoff Miller will ...

As the world marvels at the economic growth of China and India, governments and strategists wonder what these and related developments mean for the future security of the Asia-Pacific region. They’re not simply wondering: important developments have ...

Architects are no luxury in emergency or development scenarios. Good design is about finding effective solutions to difficult and multifaceted problems: exactly what disaster or development situations are. How do you balance issues of long-term ...

During this year’s Federal election campaign, Norway was held up as a shining example of a country that was conserving its wealth from resources, particularly oil, for the benefit of ...

Both friends and critics of the United States are viewing the upcoming mid-term elections in America with increasing unease. The euphoria that followed the election of President Barack ...

Dialogue between non-government organisations, often referred to as "second track dialogue", can be a useful adjunct to formal governmental negotiations. Melissa will discuss the work of institutes of international affairs around the world in ...

Australian history had two significant contributions from Islamic societies and cultures and both were related to trading initiatives and have had positive influences that have continued until today. The first came in the 17th Century with the trade ...

Meet the ABC’s Foreign Affairs Editor  

To welcome in Spring AIIA NSW invites you to meet your councillors. We will be putting on some special food and refreshments out in the courtyard (weather permitting) and plan a relaxed and casual social gathering. We would love to see you ...

Special general meeting: 6.25pm, Tuesday 28th September 2010

When will Australia be ready for Nuclear Power? ...

  North Korea is set to witness the ...

To Australia's north lies what has often been referred to as an 'arc of uncertainty'.

The images and statistics from the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Pakistan are heartbreaking, almost overwhelming.

The words 'climate change' were on everyone's lips until our politicians tossed it into the too hard basket.  The so-called 'greatest moral challenge of our time' was ...

In the election campaign just grinding to a close, the word ‘Afghanistan’ has been hardly mentioned - partly because the major parties have a consensus that Australia must continue ...

Notice is hereby given that the thirty-seventh Annual General Meeting of the members of the The Australian Institute of International Affairs New South Wales will be held at The Glover ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents:Professor Mary ...

  The Australian ...

The recent celebration of the life of Charles Darwin in Richard Attenborough’s series broadcast on ABC Television created huge interest in the 150th anniversary of the publication of ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents His Excellency Mr. Justin Brown Mr Brown has been Australian High Commissioner to Canada since 2008. During his career in the Department of Foreign Affairs and ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents 86th Annual Charteris Lecture

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents Richard Broinowski Richard is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. During his previous ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents  Dr David Walton Dr David Walton is a Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies and International Relations in the School of Humanities and Languages at the ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents Jeremy Pressman    Jeremy Pressman is a postdoctoral fellow at the United ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents Dr Bob Howard Dr. Bob Howard is a Research Associate in the Department of Government ...

Apart from its involvement in two major war theatres, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as having troops tied up in South Korea, the Obama Administration faces significant foreign policy challenges. These include its relations with its two principal ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents Dr Brendon O’Connor   Dr Brendon O’Connor was the Australia Scholar at ...

Since a mass uprising that overthrew a military government in 1973, Thailand has experienced recurring cycles of instability and conflict -- including military coups in 1976 and 1991, followed by mass opposition to military rule in 1992. The current ...

The Australian Institute of International Affairs presents Dr John Funston John Funston is a Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Asian Studies, ...

Over the last year, the Rudd Government has made concerted efforts to build closer strategic and economic relations with New Delhi. However, a key stumbling block remains in pursuing this aim: Australia's refusal to sell uranium to India. In this ...