This paper presents results from a systematic review of 68 studies that examined the link between participation in large-scale assessment programs of students’ learning and education policy in 32 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this Lowy Institute Report Nonresident Fellows Linda Jakobson and Rory Medcalf identify both the real differences in interests between China and other powers in the Indo-Pacific, but also the sharp divergences in perceptions regarding China’s maritime strategic objectives. Key findings Regional security is being adversely affected by a worsening perception gap between China and...

This paper examines the factors behind the reluctance of the ruling elites in the Sulu islands, in the Philippines, to join a region that will be dominated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from central Mindanao. Introduction The plebiscite on a new law to overhaul autonomy arrangements in the southern Philippines—if and when it...

The Pacific rat, Rattus exulans, or Kiore as it is called by Maori, is a small human commensal associated with the human settlement of the Pacific. Archaeological evidence from Island Melanesia connects the distribution of the species with the presumed ancestors of all Polynesians, the so-called Lapita. Excavations have uncovered artefacts unprecedented in the region...

The paper considers how the United States could assist military modernisation in the Philippines while avoiding force postures that could provoke China. Overview The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) is engaged in a concerted effort to modernise its military into a service that’s capable of projecting a posture of credible external deterrence...