Today Trends

Author: Andre Kwok, ANU In July 2021, Richard Branson made global headlines with his journey to outer space on Virgin Galactic’s spaceship. This historical feat proved the feasibility of space tourism and the many interests of corporations in outer space. As a major non-state actor, corporations have joined the increasingly crowded space domain, prompting new discussions on regulating commercial, military and technological activities in outer space. The conversation on non-state actors often focuses on corporations, overlooking illegitimate non-state actors like terrorists and transnational organised crime groups. In the post-9/11 world, illegitimate non-state actors have caused much strain on international law. Reflecting the growing space sector, terrorist acquisition of space-applicable cyberattack tools will further test international law. In 2007, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers rebel group hijacked an Intelsat satellite to broadcast ethno-nationalist propaganda to Europe and Asi

Author: Kerryn Baker, ANU The prolonged constitutional crisis that had engulfed Samoa since the 9 April 2021 election finally concluded on 23 July with a Court of Appeal ruling. The court ruled that the 24 May swearing-in of Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and her government — held in a tent outside the parliament after they were locked out of the building — was constitutional, making FAST the legitimate government. Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, leader of Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and prime minister since 1998, finally conceded after a months-long standoff . Fiame becomes the first woman prime minister of Samoa, and the second-ever woman head of government in the Pacific islands region. Her success was celebrated by many women in the Pacific, notorious for low levels of women’s political representation. Fiame has long been a trailblazer for women’s leadership. As a long-serving member of parliament and Samoa’s first wo

Author: Yodi Mahendradhata, Gadjah Mada University The Indonesian government seems to be transitioning from its pursuit of an elimination endgame in its fight against COVID-19 to a scenario premised on civil cohabitation. There have now been over 4,1 million confirmed COVID-19 infections and over 133,000 COVID-19-related deaths in Indonesia as of 2 September 2021. The government expects that the pandemic will become endemic in 2022 as people’s immunity against the virus increases along with the acceleration of the COVID-19 vaccination program. ‘Endemic’ refers to the constant presence or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area, according to the US Center for Disease Control . Endemic COVID-19 should present a less significant threat to the health of the Indonesian population as most people will be protected against severe symptoms and resurgences when endemicity is reached, especially if the latter are contained via regular tes

Author: Niki Alsford, University of Central Lancashire In 2019, members of Taiwan’s Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee published a strongly-worded response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Year message espousing unification. The historic declaration provided a message of ownership and a vision for indigenous values in Taiwan’s future, but Taiwan has much work to do before it can truly harness what its indigenous peoples have to offer. The declaration — the first of its kind — was written and signed by 20 representatives across the indigenous nations and opened with a direct message to Xi that since he does not know them, he does not know Taiwan. They wrote: ‘We are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, and we’ve lived in Taiwan, our motherland, for more than 6000 years … Taiwan is the sacred land where generations of our ancestors lived and protected with their lives. It doesn’t belong to China … we are now recognised as the original owners of Taiw

Author: William N Kring, Boston University As the more lethal and contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 rips across the globe, the prospects of multilateral efforts to combat the virus, tackle the looming global debt crisis and mount a sustainable economic recovery are dim. Nowhere is the insufficiency of the multilateral response more apparent than on the issue of debt relief. Before the crisis, 46 countries were spending more of their resources on debt service payments than on health care. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to wreak havoc on the global economy, the G20 responded by announcing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) during World Bank and IMF meetings in April 2020. The DSSI allowed low-income countries (LICs) to temporarily suspend their debt payments through to December 2020, a measure that has since been extended through to December 2021. The DSSI has been criticised for failing to compel all creditors to participate. Of 73 eligible LICs, only 45 beneficiar

Author: Michael Sung, Fudan University A few years ago, governments were not prepared to accept any potential systemic disruption that digital currencies could have on the international monetary system. But positions have been changing drastically. Facebook’s June 2019 announcement of its own digital currency, initially called Libra, then known as Diem, was a shot heard around the world and served as a wakeup call for many governments and financial institutions. If a private company with 2.8 billion users can issue a digital currency that circumvents sovereignty over money supply, what effect could this have on the international monetary system? The Facebook announcement catalysed governments and central banks to reconsider their stance on digital currencies. As the European Union and the United States reacted with shock over the project, which has since stalled, central banks ramped up investigations into digital currency strategies. The People ’ s Bank of China (PBOC) had already

Author: Shuja Nawaz, Atlantic Council Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018 after defeating entrenched dynastic political parties that had been alternating in government for decades. His Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had not been a strong force on the national scene but promised a ‘tsunami’ of change to produce a ‘New Pakistan’. It is struggling to fulfill that promise. As Khan enters the second half of his five-year term, the situation does not augur well — partly because of the intrinsic weaknesses of his own government, and partly because of external factors that are hurting the economy. PTI retains a majority in the National Assembly but does not control the Senate, hindering Khan’s ability to fully enact his legislative agenda. Even though he faces a fractured and somewhat discredited opposition, an uncertain economy and turmoil in Afghanistan will affect his ability to manage Pakistan and prepare for a fresh election. The PTI took office with a coalition of p

Author: Editorial Board, ANU With the rise of China and the intensification of strategic rivalry between China and the United States, the US–Japan alliance continues to serve as a critical cornerstone undergirding peace and security in the Asia Pacific. Increased tensions between China and Taiwan have attracted international attention , including on what a cross-Strait conflict would mean for the US–Japan alliance and the defence of Japan. Over the last half century, Japan–Taiwan relations tended to focus on economic relations and people-to-people exchanges with weak political and security relations — but this may be changing. As rhetoric emphasising Taiwan as a potential flashpoint of US–China conflict has increased, the Suga administration in Japan has increasingly shown its support for Taiwan. At the US–Japan leaders’ summit in April, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President Joe Biden underscored ‘the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait’ and encouraged

Author: Sheila A Smith, CFR Today Beijing has far greater military resources to bring to bear on its relations with its neighbours and increasing pressure on Taiwan’s defences by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has many in Washington and Tokyo worried about Beijing’s intentions. China is now the top priority for the US–Japan alliance, as the foreign and defence secretaries and cabinet ministers of both nations made clear in their joint statement for the Japan–US Security Consultative Committee (2+2) in March 2021. A month later, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden also called out China for its behaviour, raising concerns about human rights issues, maritime challenges across the region and economic coercion imposed on trading partners. Their statement suggests renewed allied concern about rising tensions there. Japan will have no choice but to prepare to defend itself in the case of a conflict across the Taiwan Strait. Proximity to Taiwan —

Author: Dipen Rughani and Natasha Jha Bhaskar, Newland Global Group Former Australian prime minister and Special Trade Envoy Tony Abbott ’s recent visit to India has brought the long-suspended Free Trade agreement (FTA) — officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement ( CECA ) — back into focus. Both countries began negotiating the FTA in 2011. But after six years of toil, nine rounds of negotiations, and a detailed joint FTA feasibility study, the negotiations were suspended over divided sectoral interests in 2015. Much has changed since then. China is no longer Australia’s best trading ‘ friend ’, India is no longer trapped by its historical reservations about Australia, and COVID-19 has spared none. The pandemic has exposed many countries to global supply chain risks , the dangers of export over-dependence and the need for economic diversification. The appointment of Abbott reflects the Morrison government’s awareness that it will take more than plain ec