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Military & Security

Politics

Australia's and the United Kingdom's defense ministers agreed on a 50-year bilateral treaty to underpin joint nuclear-powered submarine development, industrial cooperation, workforce training and rotational basing under AUKUS Pillar I, the Australian Financial Review reported on July 25.

Australia, U.K.: Canberra, London Sign 50-Year Submarine Treaty Amid AUKUS Review

Economics

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed a second payment of $525 million to the United States under the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement following an earlier $500 million installment in February, Reuters reported on July 23.

Australia, U.S.: Amid AUKUS Review, Canberra Delivers Payment

Canada

China

Fiji

Indonesia

Japan

Malaysia

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Singapore

South Korea

Thailand

Tonga

Vietnam

Germany

France

Norway

Netherlands

India

Australia launched U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems as part of the 2025 Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest iteration of the biennial multinational drills to date, AP reported on July 14.

Australia: HIMARS Fired Amid Largest-Ever Military Drills

Senior naval officials from the United States, Japan and Australia signed a trilateral logistics cooperation agreement, according to a July 11 readout from the U.S. Navy. 

U.S., Japan, Australia: Countries Sign Naval Logistics Pact

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

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

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

Assessments

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a luncheon at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17, 2024. 

The Australian prime minister's efforts to stabilize relations with Beijing will yield short-term economic benefits, but rising regional security concerns will ultimately limit long-term engagement.

The Challenges Facing Albanese's Bid to Reset China-Australia Relations

Ukraine

Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump on April 24 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. In an interview July 10, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he would "have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday," perhaps representing a shift in his administration's policy.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Trump Speaks on Ukraine, Sweeping EU Budget Reform

Iran

Israel

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

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

Forecast Webcast

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

Taiwan

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

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

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

Australia, U.K.: Canberra, London Sign 50-Year Submarine Treaty Amid AUKUS Review

Australia, U.S.: Amid AUKUS Review, Canberra Delivers Payment

Australia: HIMARS Fired Amid Largest-Ever Military Drills

U.S., Japan, Australia: Countries Sign Naval Logistics Pact

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

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