United States

Australia

Samoa

China

Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

Japan

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Nauru

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

Austria

Economics

Environment, Science & Technology

Military & Security

Politics

Science & Technology

Capping the 10th triennial Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, the 18-member Pacific Island Forum, or PIF, and Japan issued a declaration centered on climate change, maritime defense, trade and technology cooperation, Nikkei Asia reported on July 18.

Japan, Pacific Islands: Summit Produces Declaration on Maritime Security, Trade and Climate Cooperation

Indonesia

Australian mining conglomerate BHP will suspend all operations, including mining and refining, in the state of Western Australia starting in October, Nikkei Asia reported on July 11.

Australia: Nickel Supply Glut Forcing BHP To Suspend Mining, Refining Operations

Cyber

The Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Center and seven allied cybersecurity agencies said the Chinese state-sponsored group APT40 was behind a series of cyberattacks in recent years and continues to target public and private sectors in Australia, according to a joint advisory published on July 9. 

Australia: Canberra Accuses Chinese Hacker Group of Breaching Networks

South Africa

United Kingdom

Australian mining giant BHP backed off from taking over British multinational mining company Anglo American after the British miner rejected demands by BHP for more time to upgrade its latest $49 billion takeover proposal, Reuters reported on May 29.

South Africa: BHP Backs Off From Anglo American Takeover

Hong Kong SAR, China

Europe

Hong Kong's courts handed down verdicts on 16 of 47 pro-democracy individuals in the landmark Hong Kong 47 National Security Law, or NSL, case, Hong Kong Free Press reported on May 30.

Hong Kong: National Security Court Verdict Undermines China's Effort To Patch Ties With the West

Philippines

Taiwan

India

U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the U.S. military planned to conduct maintenance on six naval ships in international shipyards in fiscal year 2025 in preparation for wartime contingency repairs in the Indo-Pacific, the South China Morning Post reported on May 3.

U.S., Indo-Pacific: U.S. To Expand Overseas Ship Repair, Bolster Maritime Interoperability

South Africa's Competition Commission said Australian mining company BHP's takeover of British mining company Anglo American's South African operations would require a mandatory merger notification, the Financial Times reported on May 3. 

South Africa: Competition Commission To Manage BHP Takeover of Anglo American

With support from 31 of 50 lawmakers, the Solomon Islands' former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele was sworn in as the country's new prime minister, Nikkei Asia reported on May 2.

Solomon Islands: Incumbent Party Forms Coalition, Elects New Prime Minister

Snapshots

Guinea

A stock photo shows a large, open-pit iron ore mine with various layers of soil.

If the project's completion is not derailed by renewed political instability in Guinea, the giant Simandou mine's iron ore exports will help China diversify its supplies and decarbonize its steelmaking industry. 

What Africa's Largest Mining Project Means for Guinea, China and the World

Assessments

Malaysia

New Zealand

Germany

Switzerland

Ukraine

President Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as member of parliament during the first sitting of the new South African parliament on June 14 in Cape Town, South Africa. Ramaphosa will be inaugurated to a second term in a ceremony scheduled to take place June 19 in Pretoria.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Ukraine's Peace Summit, South Africa's Inauguration

The Solomon Islands' newly elected prime minister Jeremiah Manele speaks during a press conference in Honiara on May 2, 2024.

The leadership change will maintain the strategic Pacific Island nation's new pro-Beijing bent, driving the U.S. and Australia to scale up their own influence campaigns.

The Solomon Islands Elects Another Pro-China Prime Minister

Columns

On Geopolitics

North Korea

Singapore

South Korea

Vietnam

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

U.S.-China Relations

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

France

Chinese car manufacturer BYD's stacked electric vehicles wait to be loaded onto a ship at the international container terminal of Taicang Port at Suzhou Port in China's eastern Jiangsu province on Sept. 11, 2023.

As Chinese electric vehicles threaten to flood Western markets, Washington and Brussels prepare restrictions to protect domestic manufacturers and secure sensitive data. 

Chinese Electric Vehicles Prepare to Hit the Great Wall of Western Tariffs

Venezuela

Egypt

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 14, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

The Weekly Rundown: Dueling U.S. and Chinese Diplomacy, a European Council Summit

A digital illustration of the Australian and Vietnamese flags.

The decision aligns with both countries' desire to diversify their regional partnerships amid U.S. policy uncertainty and China's growing assertiveness.

The Significance of Australia and Vietnam's Move to Upgrade Relations

Pakistan

Chinese officials at the Fifth Plenary Session of the National People's Congress on March 12, 2023 in Beijing. Beijing will host the annual Two Sessions meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an industry and societal consultative body, and the rubberstamp National People's Congress from March 4-11.

The Weekly Rundown: Pakistan Selects a New Premier, China's Two Sessions

A screen outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China, shows news coverage of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) shaking hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during their meeting in the Chinese capital on Nov. 7, 2023. 

The Australian prime minister's recent trip to Beijing represents the reset in relations both countries have sought since last year, but any gains may be short-lived.

Conflicting Security Priorities Will Haunt Australia-China Rapprochement

Israel

Jordan

Palestinian Territories

Georgia

Moldova

U..S Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Oct. 14, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with his Arab counterparts Nov. 4 in the Jordanian capital in a bid to garner regional support for U.S. policies in the Israel-Hamas war.

The Weekly Rundown: Blinken Meets Arab Ministers, State Assembly Elections in India

Liberia

The U.S. Capitol. 

Energy

The Weekly Rundown: The U.S. House Attempts to Elect a New Speaker, a Possible LNG Strike in Australia

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marapeand, the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown, U.S. President Joe Biden and Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) as part of the U.S.-PIF summit at the White House on Sept. 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

Despite Washington's desire to strengthen ties with Pacific island nations, political constraints may leave a regional void that China is happy to fill.

Strategic Goals and Political Hurdles in the U.S. Play Tug-of-War Over the Pacific Islands

Australia is an island nation straddling the Indian Ocean basin and the South Pacific. Once a colony of the United Kingdom, the country began a move toward independence in 1901. Today, the Commonwealth of Australia encompasses the mainland of the Australian continent, Tasmania and more than 8,000 other islands in the continent’s surrounding waters.    Australia’s interior, known as the Outback, is mostly desert. This largely uninhabitable area is home to Australia’s iron and coal reserves, among the world’s largest. Mining has grown in importance for the Australian economy and remains a key driver of future economic growth.    The Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane corridor forms the population core along the fertile South Eastern coastline, while the capital Canberra is situated in the interior near the Murray-Darling River System. The Murray-Darling Basin is Australia's agricultural heartland but is cut off from the core by the mountains of the Great Dividing Range.     Australia's main geographic challenge is managing its isolation and small population, which is stretched thinly along its coasts. These factors affect almost all domestic and foreign policy decisions. Distance and isolation mean that Australia relies heavily on shipping lanes for its economic security. This has led Australia to build close alliances with global maritime powers — first the United Kingdom and later the United States — to protect its access to ocean trade as well as deter attacks from other powers.     Increasingly, Canberra must balance its strategic, military and cultural ties to the United States and Europe with greater economic integration with East and Southeast Asia, and especially China — its largest trading partner.

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Commodities: A Cautionary Tale

China in Transition

SITUATION REPORTS

Japan, Pacific Islands: Summit Produces Declaration on Maritime Security, Trade and Climate Cooperation

Australia: Nickel Supply Glut Forcing BHP To Suspend Mining, Refining Operations

Australia: Canberra Accuses Chinese Hacker Group of Breaching Networks

South Africa: BHP Backs Off From Anglo American Takeover

Hong Kong: National Security Court Verdict Undermines China's Effort To Patch Ties With the West

U.S., Indo-Pacific: U.S. To Expand Overseas Ship Repair, Bolster Maritime Interoperability

South Africa: Competition Commission To Manage BHP Takeover of Anglo American

Solomon Islands: Incumbent Party Forms Coalition, Elects New Prime Minister

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