This Month
- Analysis
- Trump's White House
Autocrats rise as Trump scorches the land of the free
Strongman leaders have lit a bonfire of the orthodoxies: the role of the state, neoliberalism, globalisation and the international “rules-based” order.
- James Curran
Is that a $3m Bugatti Veyron? Watch as rebels find Assad’s luxury cars
Videos show fighters and civilians entering the president’s sprawling palace and combing through rooms and grounds.
- Updated
- William Yang
How Assad’s family ran Syria like the mafia
Hafez and his son Bashar killed countless people over five decades and oversaw the country’s descent into kleptocracy.
- Chloe Cornish
- Analysis
- World politics
Why a destabilised South Korea is dangerous
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is not backing down from his nuclear ambitions. A stable South Korea is crucial for peace in the region.
- Edward Howell
November
Xi is thumping Putin in the Great Game
Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby takes a deep dive into the “Chussia” partnership. His conclusions about a rising Sinostan would not please the Kremlin.
- Geoff Raby
October
‘Hitler did some good things’: Harris slams Trump Nazi comments
Retired four-star general John Kelly has broken his silence about his time as Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, saying he admired Adolf Hitler.
- Patrick Svitek, Jonathan Edwards and Tyler Pager
July
US journalist sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison
The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich becomes the first Western reporter to be convicted of spying in modern Russia, and could be used in a prisoner swap.
- Ivan Nechepurenko
February
- Analysis
- Analysis
Why are we talking ourselves into Armageddon?
Western leaders and commentators are increasingly talking of World War Three, but they may be overestimating the strengths of Russia, China and Iran.
- James Curran
December
Iraq war secrecy reignites calls for inquiry
Every year the National Archives releases cabinet documents from 20 years earlier, but it is what was not released for 2003, the year Australia committed troops to Iraq, that has sparked the most attention.
- Ronald Mizen
December 2023
- Opinion
- Democracy
Democratic recession could deepen in 2024
At this moment of maximum global peril, democracies have lost the thing they need most: the power of their legitimacy.
- Misha Zelinsky
August 2023
Kim calls for North Korea’s military to sharpen war plans
In the face of deepening confrontations with Washington and Seoul, Kim Jong-un is trying to boost his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing.
- Kim Tong-Hyung
February 2023
Australia slaps fresh sanctions on Myanmar, Iran
The Albanese government targets top military officers as it unleashes travel bans and asset freezes on the Myanmar junta and Iran’s hardline regime.
- Hans van Leeuwen
December 2022
How Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping could ruin 2023
The West was energised and united by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as autocrats were forced to confront their limits. Will it continue this year?
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
December 2022
- Analysis
- Analysis
Why 2022 was the year the strongmen stumbled
Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine demonstrated why authoritarian rule so often ends in disaster. The authoritarian regimes that support Putin have also had a bad year.
- Gideon Rachman
- Analysis
- Coal
Perrottet gives himself dictator-like powers over coal
The NSW government is giving itself the power to set maximum prices, decide who coal will be sold to, and control the use of the coal.
- Updated
- Aaron Patrick
What Kim Jong-un really wants
With the world focused on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Pyongyang has staged more tests this year than any other on record.
- John Delury
- Opinion
- Opinion
The year the world reached ‘peak autocrat’
With the big three of the dictators’ club – Iran, Russia and China – facing domestic turmoil and sanity making a comeback at the ballot box, the long democratic winter is starting to break.
- Misha Zelinsky
October 2022
Cheers for returning Iranian climber who competed without a headscarf
Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi received a hero’s welcome on her return to Tehran early Wednesday, after competing in South Korea without wearing a mandatory headscarf.
- Jon Gambrell
A generation revolts against Iranian regime
In Iran, protests are almost constant – but a new generation threatens to move the country to a precipitous tipping point.
- Kim Ghattas
August 2022
The volatile Millennial wielding absolute power in Saudi Arabia
The war in Ukraine and subsequent energy crisis mean Mohammad bin Salman is back in demand. But those closest to him fear his rule could take a dangerous turn.
- Nicolas Pelham