Australia

China

Fiji

Military & Security

Politics

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands region would not be welcome and that he would introduce a proposed multilateral pact dubbed the Ocean of Peace treaty at the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum, or PIF, summit in September, The Australian Financial Review reported July 2.

Fiji: Pacific Island Nation Seeks Treaty To Box Out Chinese Military From Region

United States

United Kingdom

Economics

Australia's Defense Department slashed maintenance and training budgets by 10% to help pay for AUKUS submarines and missile purchases, sparking warnings that Australian Defense Force personnel, warships and aircraft were no longer fully operational, The Australian Financial Review reported on June 27. 

Australia: Naval Deficiencies Spell More Risk for AUKUS

Europe

China continues to delay or deny export licenses for rare earth magnets and raw materials, disrupting supply chains for Western manufacturers despite a recent pledge to ease restrictions, The Wall Street Journal reported on June 26.

China: Rare Earths Delays Undermine Export Pledge

Japan

South Korea

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba canceled his planned attendance at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, after an accompanying meeting between the Indo-Pacific Four (Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) was scrapped, The Asahi Shimbun reported on June 23.

Japan, South Korea, Australia: Leaders To Skip NATO Summit

Canada

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese formally backed Canada’s bid to join the technology-sharing Pillar II of the AUKUS pact during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, The Australian Financial Review reported on June 16.

Australia, Canada: Canberra Endorses Ottawa Joining AUKUS Amid Pentagon Review

A planned meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump at the June 15-17 Group of Seven summit in Canada is now uncertain, Channel News Asia reported on June 13.

Australia, U.S.: Mounting Friction Puts Albanese, Trump G7 Meeting in Doubt

The U.S. Pentagon initiated a review of the AUKUS pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia that could result in the cancellation of the United States' commitment to provide Australia with up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines and codevelop similar SSN-AUKUS class submarines with the United Kingdom and Australia, the Financial Times reported June 11. 

U.S., U.K., Australia: Washington Initiates Review to Consider Scrapping AUKUS Pact

The European Union and Australia initiated discussions on a bilateral security partnership, The Australian Financial Review reported on June 11. 

EU, Australia: Brussels, Canberra Discussing Security Pact Alongside FTA Negotiations

Assessments

Iran

Israel

India

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. 

Global Trade

Israel-Hamas Conflict

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

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and British Defense Secretary John Healey sit together for the AUKUS Defense Ministers Meeting at Old Royal Naval College on Sept. 26, 2024, in London, England.

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Despite growing U.S. skepticism, strong imperatives to counter China's maritime presence will likely lead Washington to see a revised version of the AUKUS defense pact through.

U.S. Review of AUKUS Pillar I Puts Pact on Shaky Ground

Media

Podcasts

How will Australian foreign policy change in the coming years?

Essential Geopolitics: The Future of Australia's Political Landscape

Snapshots

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton concedes defeat during a Liberal Party election night event on May 3, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. 

The collapse of the center-right Liberal-National Coalition (LNC) will grant the ruling Labor Party freer rein to implement energy transition, industrial investment and fiscal reform policies.

Collapse of Australia's Conservative Coalition Reshapes Political Landscape, Further Empowers Labor

After winning the general election, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese waves as he arrives onstage at the Labor Party election night event in Sydney on May 3, 2025. 

Energy

The Labor Party's sweeping victory in Australia will strengthen Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's ability to increase public spending and bolster ties with foreign partners.

Albanese Returns Stronger Than Ever Following Australia's General Election

Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) debates Liberal opposition leader Peter Dutton on April 8, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. 

Global Elections

While another Labor government would portend domestic and foreign policy continuity, a victory by the Liberal-National coalition would signal a shift toward fiscal austerity, loosened energy regulations, expanded defense spending and stricter immigration regulations.

Australia's Election: Potential Outcomes and Their Implications

Mexico

Philippines

Ukraine

Russia

Forecast Webcast

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

U.S.-China Relations

Join our analysts for this webcast recording exploring key topics identified in RANE's 2025 Second-Quarter Forecast.

2025 Second-Quarter Forecast Webcast

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers a speech in parliament on the government's newly unveiled 2025-26 budget on March 25, 2025, in Canberra, Australia.

Unveiled just ahead of May elections, the budget marks a pivot to resource-driven growth, U.S.-aligned defense integration and domestic industrial development, but its durability will be tested.

Reading Between the Lines of Australia's 2025-26 Budget

Columns

On Geopolitics

Asia-Pacific

Indonesia

Malaysia

Taiwan

Vietnam

U.S. President Joe Biden gestures to reporters after landing on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. 

Trump's more aggressive and transactional approach could deliver quick wins for the U.S.'s position in the region, though it could also strain ties with key partners. 

Trump's Asia-Pacific Approach Will Test Biden's Gains

Nauru

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

The flags of Australia, the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Papua New Guinea clockwise starting from the upper left. Canberra will have to fulfill its commitments to keep Beijing's influence at bay as island countries play the two off each other.

Canberra will have to fulfill its commitments to keep Beijing's influence at bay as island countries play the two off each other. 

Australian Efforts to Counter China in the Pacific Will Require Follow-Through

Palestinian Territories

Samoa

Federated States of Micronesia

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

New Zealand

Palau

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

France

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a flag during a ceremony on Ukraine's Independence Day on Aug. 24, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine. 

The Weekly Rundown: Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Resume, Ukraine Observes Third Post-Invasion Independence Day

Venezuela

Lebanon

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a Women's History Month reception in the White House on March 18, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: Escalation in the Middle East, Kamala Harris' VP Pick

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

Fiji: Pacific Island Nation Seeks Treaty To Box Out Chinese Military From Region

Australia: Naval Deficiencies Spell More Risk for AUKUS

China: Rare Earths Delays Undermine Export Pledge

Japan, South Korea, Australia: Leaders To Skip NATO Summit

Australia, Canada: Canberra Endorses Ottawa Joining AUKUS Amid Pentagon Review

Australia, U.S.: Mounting Friction Puts Albanese, Trump G7 Meeting in Doubt

U.S., U.K., Australia: Washington Initiates Review to Consider Scrapping AUKUS Pact

EU, Australia: Brussels, Canberra Discussing Security Pact Alongside FTA Negotiations

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