On 18 August 2008, General Pervez Musharraf resigned as President of Pakistan, the first time in the history of the country that an incumbent president with close ties to the military had opted to resign rather than face the threat of impeachment. This report looks at the events leading up to the resignation and its...

0n 5 January 2005, Prime Minister Howard announced a $1 billion contribution to a newly formed Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development. These funds would be in addition to Australia's existing development cooperation program and would 'bring Australia's commitment to Indonesia to a total of $1.8 billion over five years'. Ravi Tomar discusses the major...

The humanitarian disaster in the Darfur region of Sudan received a great deal of publicity in 2004. In fact it was the result of an exacerbation of political strife going back many years. In this research brief Ravi Tomar provides a background to the conflict and argues that while a resolution is possible, there are...

In July 2003, the federal government released an exposure draft of legislation (Charities Bill 2003) which seeks to redefine what constitutes a charitable organisation. It also asked the Board of Taxation to conduct a public enquiry to determine the criteria for organisations to be given charitable status. This Current Issues Brief explains the background to...

This Current Issues Brief provides an assessment of the situation in Afghanistan a year after the fall of the Taliban regime. It discusses the problems facing the country and concludes that there are grounds for cautious optimism if the international community stays involved in rebuilding efforts.