Australia

China

Military & Security

Politics

A Chinese Su-35 fighter jet engaged an Australian P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft over the Paracel Islands of the disputed South China Sea, releasing flares in close proximity and issuing a warning to the Australian aircraft in what China described as an intrusion of its airspace, the South China Morning Post reported on Oct. 20. 

China, Australia: Mid-Air Flare Incident Over South China Sea Highlights Mutual Distrust

United States

Economics

Australia is consulting miners on a proposed $777 million critical minerals fund that would be led by the government and could include price floors, offtake guarantees and government-backed loans to stabilize domestic producers, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 11.

Australia: Canberra Weighs Critical Minerals Reserve Ahead of U.S. Talks

India

Australia and India signed a submarine agreement, pledged deeper information sharing and outlined defense industrial collaboration, AP reported on Oct. 9.

Australia, India: Canberra, New Delhi Sign Submarine Pact

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape announced that his Cabinet had approved a mutual defense treaty with Australia, pending parliamentary approval, Reuters reported on Oct. 2.

Australia, Papua New Guinea: Defense Agreement Signed, Leaves Door Open to China

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defense Minister Richard Marles clarified that a U.S. review of Pillar I of the AUKUS nuclear submarine pact was ongoing despite media reports that the review had already cleared, The West Australian reported Sept. 30.

U.S., Australia: Pentagon AUKUS Review Likely Nearing Conclusion

Canada

Israel

Palestinian Territories

United Kingdom

Several Western countries, including Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, recognized Palestinian statehood on Sept. 21, with France and several others expected to follow suit on Sept. 22, The New York Times reported on Sept. 22.

Israel, Palestinian Territories: Western Countries Recognize Palestinian Statehood

China's embassy in Papua New Guinea publicly warned the country against signing a security pact with Australia, claiming the deal would compromise its sovereignty, the Financial Times reported Sept. 19.

Australia, China, Papua New Guinea: Beijing Warns Against Australia-PNG Pact

U.S.-China Relations

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is to sign a landmark mutual defense treaty with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, the Australian Financial Review reported Sept. 15.

Australia, U.S., Papua New Guinea: New Treaty, Funding to Boost Canberra's Security Role, Support AUKUS

Assessments

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump speak to reporters during a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. 

Trump and Albanese agreed to tighten defense and supply chain integration as a way to reduce their countries' reliance on China, but industrial bottlenecks mean implementation will be slow.

U.S.-Australia Leadership Summit Yields Critical Minerals Pact, AUKUS Reaffirmation

Ukraine

Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. Delegations from the United States and Russia, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, respectively, will meet this week to resume conversations about their countries' bilateral relationship and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

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: U.S. and Russian Delegations Meet, a Still-Fragile Hamas-Israel Ceasefire 

France

Dignitaries attend a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestinian statehood, during the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York City. 

Western countries' growing recognition of Palestinian statehood is largely symbolic and will likely galvanize Israel's push for West Bank annexation, risking further Israeli diplomatic isolation abroad and sporadic violence at home.

The West's Growing Support for Palestinian Statehood Will Have Limited Concrete Impacts

Guyana

Japan

The President of the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly and former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a General Assembly meeting to vote on a two-state solution to the Palestinian question on Sept. 12 at the United Nations in New York. Countries including Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom will likely formally recognize Palestinian statehood over the next several days at the assembly.

The Weekly Rundown: Western Countries Recognize Palestine, the EU Discusses a 'Drone Wall'

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a luncheon at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17, 2024. 

The Australian prime minister's efforts to stabilize relations with Beijing will yield short-term economic benefits, but rising regional security concerns will ultimately limit long-term engagement.

The Challenges Facing Albanese's Bid to Reset China-Australia Relations

Germany

U.S. President Donald Trump on April 24 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. In an interview July 10, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he would "have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday," perhaps representing a shift in his administration's policy.

The Weekly Rundown: Trump Speaks on Ukraine, Sweeping EU Budget Reform

Iran

Europe

A photo taken in Tehran, Iran, on June 26, 2025, shows an Iranian political banner hanging near the remains of a residential building struck by an Israeli attack. 

Global Trade

U.S.-Iran Relations

The Weekly Rundown: Fragile Iran-Israel Ceasefire Holds, U.S. Tariff Deadline Approaches

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and British Defense Secretary John Healey sit together for the AUKUS Defense Ministers Meeting at Old Royal Naval College on Sept. 26, 2024, in London, England.

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Despite growing U.S. skepticism, strong imperatives to counter China's maritime presence will likely lead Washington to see a revised version of the AUKUS defense pact through.

U.S. Review of AUKUS Pillar I Puts Pact on Shaky Ground

Media

Podcasts

How will Australian foreign policy change in the coming years?

Essential Geopolitics: The Future of Australia's Political Landscape

Snapshots

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton concedes defeat during a Liberal Party election night event on May 3, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. 

The collapse of the center-right Liberal-National Coalition (LNC) will grant the ruling Labor Party freer rein to implement energy transition, industrial investment and fiscal reform policies.

Collapse of Australia's Conservative Coalition Reshapes Political Landscape, Further Empowers Labor

After winning the general election, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese waves as he arrives onstage at the Labor Party election night event in Sydney on May 3, 2025. 

Energy

The Labor Party's sweeping victory in Australia will strengthen Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's ability to increase public spending and bolster ties with foreign partners.

Albanese Returns Stronger Than Ever Following Australia's General Election

Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) debates Liberal opposition leader Peter Dutton on April 8, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. 

Global Elections

While another Labor government would portend domestic and foreign policy continuity, a victory by the Liberal-National coalition would signal a shift toward fiscal austerity, loosened energy regulations, expanded defense spending and stricter immigration regulations.

Australia's Election: Potential Outcomes and Their Implications

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.

SITUATION REPORTS

China, Australia: Mid-Air Flare Incident Over South China Sea Highlights Mutual Distrust

Australia: Canberra Weighs Critical Minerals Reserve Ahead of U.S. Talks

Australia, India: Canberra, New Delhi Sign Submarine Pact

Australia, Papua New Guinea: Defense Agreement Signed, Leaves Door Open to China

U.S., Australia: Pentagon AUKUS Review Likely Nearing Conclusion

Israel, Palestinian Territories: Western Countries Recognize Palestinian Statehood

Australia, China, Papua New Guinea: Beijing Warns Against Australia-PNG Pact

Australia, U.S., Papua New Guinea: New Treaty, Funding to Boost Canberra's Security Role, Support AUKUS

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