Strengthening South Korea's voice
South Korea needs new strategies to avoid less creative, tried, and often failed, strategies that emphasise leadership summits and high-level bilateral engagement.
2021 01 19
Do politicians really make excellent envoys?
The debate over political appointments to ambassadorial posts has a long history in the United States, has only recently become an issue in the United Kingdom, and is now a growing issue in Australia.
2020 12 08
In search of a middle power rethink
It’s time to admit that US North Korea policy has failed. Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly sailed into the headwind of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to no avail.
2020 11 20
Coming soon: a neutral South Korea
Regardless of who wins the US election, South Korea, not North Korea, should be a priority for the next administration and neglecting South Korea risks the US not seeing the strategic forest for the North Korean nuclear trees.
2020 11 03
Where next for MIKTA?
After seven years, the informal middle power partnership bringing together Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA), has achieved less than optimists envisioned, but lasted longer than pessimists imagined.
2020 08 25
Australia's South Korea problem
Despite its increasing international reputation as a global middle power, the tremendous success of its culture exports, and recognition of its effective governance, South Korea faces an image problem in Australia.
2020 07 22
Middle powers after the middle power moment
The middle-power moment may well have been an illusion, but middle powers will continue to play an important albeit different role in international relations.
2020 06 06
Watching South Korea - Beware assumptions
Over the past year, long-suppressed strategic debates re-emerged in South Korea: accepting a less-involved United States, strengthening relations with China, securing an independent nuclear weapons capacity, or combining all of these and steering a path towards a unified Korea that could sustain some form of armed neutrality.
2020 01 29
South Korea's missing middle power diplomacy
Without middle power diplomacy, South Korea's diplomacy will ultimately end up battling the same diplomatic crises with North Korea it has in the past — or worse
2019 05 15
Political leadership versus diplomacy
Political leadership and diplomacy are different, and remembering this point suggests we give diplomats the trust, confidence and resources they deserve, and allow them to do their jobs.
2019 03 06