The Policy File

Each week on the Policy File we round-up some essential weekend policy reading from around the web. This week we look at the EU Referendum and the future of the UK, and the leadership of newly-elected  Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte. 

This week the UK voted whether to stay or leave the European Union in the so-called Brexit referendum. In a new Policy Forum Pod, Martyn Pearce talks with three experts about why the Brexit vote matters to the Asia-Pacific. Two experts dig further into the debate on Policy Forum: Thomas Sampson looks at the economic impacts of a Brexit, while Jürgen Bröhmer says that regardless of the outcome, there will be no clear winners.

On The Times of India Biswajit Choudhury and Meghna Mittal take a look at what Brexit could mean for India, while on Forbes, Tim Worstall looks at the political spread of uncertainty and doubt. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development analyse the economic consequences of a Brexit from a tax perspective with both long and short-term implications.

Last week UK Labour MP Jo Cox was tragically killed in her constituency of Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire. Her murder is believed to be related to her political views. On The Guardian, her husband, Brendan Cox said his wife had grown concerned about the whipping up of hatred in the EU referendum debate.

On Spiked, Brendan O’Neill looks at how the media have exploited Cox’s murder to influence the EU referendum, while on The Indian Express, Patrick French discusses mental illness and political extremism in relation to Jo Cox’s murder and last week’s Orlando shootings.

Newly-elected President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has gained international notoriety for his tough talk on crime. On Policy Forum, Imelda Deinla looks at what his presidency will mean for the Philippines and the region, while Mark Beeson uses Duterte as a case study in discussing the rise of ‘strongman’ leadership and authoritarian governments. Zachary Abuza, meanwhile, takes a look at the Bangsamoro peace process and the prospects for peace in the southern Philippines.

On Eurasia Review, Barry Desker examines how Duterte could be different from his predecessors and looks at how he will manage China relations. On The World Post, Richard Javad Heydarian examines why foreign policy matters to the Philippines and what it might look like in the future, while on The Manilla Times, Yen Makabent looks at media reforms sweeping the country and the threat of journalism being supressed under the Duterte presidency.

Don’t forget our Australian Federal Election Series is almost over, with one event left before the 2 July poll. The last live event – this coming Tuesday at The Australian National University – will be pre-election analysis and cover some of the hot topics of the campaign so far. You can also listen to all events via our podcast platform: Policy Forum Pod. The last event looked at climate, energy and environment policy and if you missed that you can also read some expert analysis from panellists Ken Baldwin and Paul Burke.

Want more for your weekend? You can catch up with our Policy Forum podcast series via iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. If you like what you hear, please give us a review on iTunes and help us get the word out.

Finally, a quick note. From this week we are moving this Policy File email to a fortnightly rather than a weekly publication. Next Friday we’ll instead have a new Policy Forum Pod looking at APEC and economic empowerment of women in Asia. We’ll be back with another Policy File in two week’s time.