Australia

Europe

Economics

Military & Security

The European Union and Australia agreed on the final test of a long-delayed free trade agreement, eliminating tariffs on most goods and expanding Australian agricultural access to European markets and European industrial and manufactured goods access to Australia, alongside provisions to facilitate critical minerals trade, AP reported on March 24.

Australia, EU: Strategic Alignment Deepens With Trade Pact and Defense Deal

Politics

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Australia on March 23-25 to meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with both sides indicating the long-negotiated Australia-EU free trade agreement is in its "final stretch" and likely to be finalized during the visit, the Australian Financial Review reported on March 18.

Australia, EU: Trade Deal Likely Imminent as Strategic Pressures Override Agricultural Deadlock

Indonesia

Japan

Papua New Guinea

Australia and Indonesia announced plans to expand bilateral security cooperation to include two new trilateral arrangements with Japan and Papua New Guinea, respectively, Reuters reported on March 12.

Australia, Indonesia: Security Pact To Expand and Include Japan, Papua New Guinea

Iran

United Arab Emirates

Australia will deploy an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning system aircraft and around 85 personnel to the United Arab Emirates for an initial four-week mission to help defend Gulf airspace against Iranian missile and drone attacks, according to a media release from the Australian Ministry of Defense published March 9.

Australia, UAE, Iran: Canberra Deploys Defensive Military Support to Gulf

China

Australia lodged a formal complaint with China after a People's Liberation Army-Navy helicopter conducted what Canberra described as an "unsafe and unprofessional" maneuver near an Australian Defence Force helicopter operating over international waters in the Yellow Sea on March 4, Reuters reported March 6.

Australia, China: Chinese Helicopter Intercepts Australian Helicopter Over Yellow Sea

Canada

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney signed new agreements on critical minerals cooperation and broader collaboration in defense, trade and artificial intelligence during the latter's visit to Canberra, The New York Times reported on March 5.

Australia, Canada: Middle Powers Align on Critical Minerals and Broader Strategic Cooperation

United States

South Korea

Taiwan

Around 40% of U.S. naval vessels ready for operations are currently in the Middle East, including one carrier and six destroyers that are normally based in the Pacific, according to a March 3 Reuters report.

Indo-Pacific: Regional Armament Concerns Grow Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict

Lynas Rare Earths, Australia's largest rare earths producer and the only major commercial separator outside China, reported roughly $295 million in revenue and approximately $57 million in profit from July 2025 through December 2025, marking a sharp year-on-year increase, Nikkei Asia reported on Feb. 26.

Australia: Lynas Profit Surge a Potential Sign of Viability for Non-China Rare Earths, but Risks Loom Large

Assessments

India

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Australia, on March 5, 2026. 

Energy

Canada's push to deepen economic and security ties with India, Australia and Japan faces constraints and may inadvertently strengthen the U.S.-led regional structure Ottawa is trying to hedge against.

The Promise and Limitations of Canada's Push to Diversify Strategic Partnerships

Germany

The Tehran skyline on Dec. 30, 2025. On March 2, U.S. and Iranian negotiators will meet in Vienna, Austria, to begin technical talks on a nuclear deal.

U.S.-Iran Relations

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

The Weekly Rundown: The Conflict in the Middle East, Merz meets Trump 

Snapshots

European Union and Australian flags together.

Global Trade

European and Australian negotiators aim to strengthen supply chain resilience and hedge against growing global trade volatility.


The Strategic Logic Behind Revived Australia-EU Free Trade Talks 

The Australian flag flies at half mast over Parliament House on Jan. 22, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia, to honor the victims of the Bondi shootings.

Passed in response to the Bondi Beach attack, the legislation will likely fuel legal and federal-state friction, deepen opposition fragmentation and entrench security policy as a persistent fault line in Australian politics.

The Political Impact of Australia's Gun Reform and Anti-Hate Bills

Benin

Burkina Faso

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Madagascar

Mali

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Paraguay

Venezuela

Egypt

Israel

Lebanon

Morocco

Palestinian Territories

Qatar

Syria

Turkey

Yemen

Cambodia

Timor-Leste

Mongolia

Myanmar

Philippines

Thailand

Vietnam

Bulgaria

Ukraine

Russia

Afghanistan

Nepal

Pakistan

Flight routes.

Cyber

As 2026 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five patterns and trends as measured by geopolitical impact.

2025: A Geopolitical Review

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

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

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

France

United Kingdom

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

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

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

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. 

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

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

Australia, EU: Strategic Alignment Deepens With Trade Pact and Defense Deal

Australia, EU: Trade Deal Likely Imminent as Strategic Pressures Override Agricultural Deadlock

Australia, Indonesia: Security Pact To Expand and Include Japan, Papua New Guinea

Australia, UAE, Iran: Canberra Deploys Defensive Military Support to Gulf

Australia, China: Chinese Helicopter Intercepts Australian Helicopter Over Yellow Sea

Australia, Canada: Middle Powers Align on Critical Minerals and Broader Strategic Cooperation

Indo-Pacific: Regional Armament Concerns Grow Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict

Australia: Lynas Profit Surge a Potential Sign of Viability for Non-China Rare Earths, but Risks Loom Large

Forecasts

ANALYSES

SECTIONS

Explore

Subscribe

Help & Support