IN FOCUS: INDO-PACIFIC

With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, the countries of the region are beginning to co-operate to mitigate disasters. Early warning and accurate risk assessment must be the core of their outlook, Paul Barnes writes.

This episode of the National Security Podcast draws a line through the emerging geopolitical concept of the Indo-Pacific. As security policies evolve, Chris Farnham asks how nations in the region are internalising the Indo-Pacific concept and incorporating it into national strategy.

As competition rises amongst major powers of the Indo-Pacific, so do concerns around China’s increasing involvement in small Pacific nations and their economies, Bahauddin Foizee writes.

Amidst mounting tensions between China and the US, this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue saw several countries reveal their own hopes and dreams for the Indo-Pacific, as well as reinforcing the lack of trust existing in the region, Huong Le Thu writes.

India and Japan have reasons to strengthen their Indo-Pacific partnership, though it may never amount to a formal alliance, Tan Ming Hui and Nazia Hussain write.

The increasingly apparent fragility of the rules-based order, as well as a lively debate on security and defence, are stepping up European interest in the Indo-Pacific, Eva Pejsova writes.

This year Policy Forum produced more than 60 podcasts covering a huge range of issues, from LGBT rights in India, to Indigenous water rights in Northern Australia, and from the rise of populism around the world, to the mechanics of the Australian Public Service. In this post, we present you the top 10 of our policy podcasts from this year that you were listening to (and if you didn’t listen to them, well, what else do you have planned over the festive break?)

Alongside negotiating its relationship with the European Union, the British government has been developing naval and military connections in Asia, John Hemmings writes.

Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy needs clearer edges if the country is to ensure the regional order remains free and open, Kei Koga writes.

If countries of the Indo-Pacific are to be prepared for the maritime threats of the future, they must know what’s happening at sea. David Brewster writes that Australia can share its expertise with the region at a relatively low cost.