The southern-flank portion of the U.S regional alliance network—also known as the ‘San Francisco system’—includes formal bilateral defence treaties with Thailand and the Philippines and the ANZUS defence pact. This report outlines an assessment of how the San Francisco system’s southern flank matters in contemporary U.S strategic policy.

This report argues that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a mixed bag for China, in terms of its outward investments and economic and strategic outreach plans.

The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index is an analytical tool to track changes in the distribution of power in the region. It aims to sharpen the debate on geopolitics in Asia. For the purposes of this Index, power is defined as the capacity of a state or territory to direct or influence the behaviour of...

The first meeting of the Academic Network examined the frameworks and methodologies used by academics to study the nexus between climate change and risks to sustaining peace, as well as the ways in which climate factors might affect the UN prevention agenda. The SSRC commissioned Joshua Busby to write this literature review on the intersection...

This paper explores how Timor-Leste’s sense of geopolitical vulnerability, as a young democracy in an increasingly rivalrous region—when coupled with a number of pressing domestic imperatives—has played a key role in shaping its strategic outlook.