Articles by Professor Damien Kingsbury

Fighting has escalated in Syria, and Russia has started to arm pro-Assad forces. A peaceful end to the civil war is looking less and less likely.

It’s a good time to be a spy. While Defence spending has been cut in the federal budget, there’s more money for secret intelligence. And aid funding gets an increase, despite deferring UN goals.

Malaysia’s political parties are being increasingly divided along ethnic lines, which could make it even more difficult for the opposition party to break the ruling party’s stranglehold on government.

There are reports of offices of Densus 88, Indonesia’s counter-terrorism police, attacking protesters at flag-raising ceremonies across the province of West Papua.

With both sides of Syria’s civil war now claiming the other side is using chemical weapons, the US may be forced to intervene. But what form would an intervention take, and would American allies get involved?

Australia locks up refugees escaping conflict in Sri Lanka under secret terms that, on the face of it, fit neatly with the authoritarian regime they’re fleeing.

The cables are an awkward footnote to the now surprising closeness of relations between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.

The recent anti-Muslim riots in Myanmar have spread to the centre of the country and claimed dozens of lives. But is the violence politically motivated? And has it stalled reform?

Kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell got lucky to be released after 15 months in the southern Philippines. It suggests feared terrorist group ASG, which sometimes beheads its victims, might not have been behind the plot.

Ben Zygier didn’t fit the mould of a Mossad spy — and potentially paid the price as a result. More details have emerged today to suggest “Prisoner X” wasn’t very discrete in a job that demands it.

Burmese president Thein Sein is visiting Australia as tensions thaw between the West and Myanmar. But significant questions surrounding human rights remain.

Try as it might, Afghanistan doesn’t even make the podium for the most dangerous places in the world by number of terrorism attacks. Syria and Iraq share that dubious prize — while there are very few attacks in the West.

Senator Nick Xenophon was deported from Malaysia on the weekend after being classified a security risk by the country’s authorities. Here’s why they kicked him out.

French President Francois Hollande is claiming victory against the Islamic insurgents in Mali after a quick campaign. But that’s ignoring the Islamic fighters hiding near Algeria.

Syria is now starting to look like such a multi-faceted contest, but perhaps with even greater potential for complication. Cambodia might provide some clues.

The call for a boycott of Sri Lanka’s cricket team following the actions of the Sri Lankan military against the country’s Tamil population is growing. But it’s not just a cricket issue …

David Cameron is playing to his base, largely, in giving Britons the option of divorcing the European Union. But European leaders are warning there will be consequences — for the EU and Great Britain.

Hillary Clinton has proved herself one of the most successful secretaries of state the US government has ever seen. Will she make a tilt for the presidency? Keep an eye on her actions …

Why is Kevin Rudd pushing a policy on Syria he well knows won’t get up? Because he’s outraged that 60,000 people have died, no doubt. But he also seems to be playing politics.

India and Pakistan are back on war footing after two Indian soldiers were killed on the Kashmir Line of Control. But the ceasefire was always uneasy given the history of conflict.

As far afield as Australia might have cast its gaze, its critical interests always have been — and increasingly are — closer to home. Crikey’s international affairs expert examines our place in the world in 2013.