The global economic alignments of the present pose many political, moral and theoretical questions, but the central issue the essays in this collection address is: how do relatively poor people of the Australia–Pacific region survive in current precarious times?

The authors in this interdisciplinary collection draw on their in‑depth knowledge of peacebuilding and development contexts in different parts of Asia, the Pacific and Africa to examine the messy and dynamic realities of hybridity ‘on the ground’.

ASEAN’s ability to adapt to new challenges that will determine its future relevance.

The heads of government of the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will convene in Sydney on 17–18 March 2018 at the invitation of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. This paper provides concise background to and context for the summit.

With the strategic balance teetering in the Asia–Pacific, a more cold-hearted assessment of the Australia – New Zealand alliance is needed.