Global Outlook

Curated expert opinion on intractable contemporary issues

Pacific Voices Loud and Clear at COP26

By Volker Boege  |  04 December, 2021

Only a few Pacific Islanders made it to Glasgow in November 2021 for COP26. Out of the approximately 30,000 conference attendees, only about 140 were from Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, both government delegations and civil society representation were considerably smaller than at previous COPs.

The Seas Are Coming For Us in Kiribati. Will Australia Rehome Us?

By Akka Rimon and Anote Tong  |  30 November, 2021

Our atoll nation is barely two metres above sea level, and the waters are coming for us. Despite the progress and momentum of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, we are still not moving fast enough to avoid the worst of climate change.

AUKUS Partners Must Play Catch-up to Repair Relations with France

By Ramesh Thakur  |  17 November, 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is embroiled in a tussle with both French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden which, given the power asymmetries, risks leaving Australia exposed and vulnerable in a major-power league above its paygrade.

China and the US: Two Paranoid Giants at Odds

By Chung-in Moon  |  11 November, 2021

The US oversells its fear of China, which in turn pushes China into an almost hysterically aggressive posture of defence, only exacerbating the problem.

Are We Heading for a Cold War with China?

By Herbert Wulf  |  09 November, 2021

In recent months, we have often heard that the return of the Cold War is imminent, this time with China. How great is this danger? Some developments point at a dangerous confrontation; others are completely different from the times of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and its allies.

The Worst Presidential Foreign Policy Blunders Under Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump

By Ramesh Thakur  |  27 October, 2021

A common intellectual parlour game is to rank American presidents in order of greatness. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt have long reigned supreme in the top four slots in C-SPAN’s survey of presidential historians. Switching angles and timeframe, although few question the US decision to exit Afghanistan, few defend how it was done. The calamitous domestic political consequences will be matched by lasting damage to the US’s global reputation and interests. This prompts the question: what were the single worst blunders by recent presidents?

The views and opinions expressed in Global Outlook are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toda Peace Institute.