Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the brutal state-sanctioned killing of two Australian citizens, the shallowness of any trust between Jakarta and Canberra - between Australians and Indonesians - has been fully exposed.The expected recall of both ambassadors - theirs in direct retaliation to the unprecedented withdrawal of ours already announced - is as inevitable as it is regrettably, largely pointless. Ditto for other gestures of Australian unhappiness in the diplomatic sphere.

Despite repeated attempts by reporters to bait him into dredging up lingering resentments against Japan, a senior South Korean diplomat bit his tongue, downplaying 70-year-old tensions at a trilateral meeting in Washington. “Diplomacy is about trying to find a way to work together while we have healthy differences on issues,” South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong told reporters at the State Department on Thursday.

As official Washington prepares for the late April visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his scheduled address to a joint session of Congress, many aspects of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan will rightly be feted, including a robust strategic alliance and significant economic ties between the two nations. 

For the first time, a Taiwanese TV drama will be aired in the Latin American region in an effort to promote bilateral exchanges in the field of pop culture, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

As the March 31st deadline to reach a political framework agreement between the P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, and Germany) and Iran fast approaches, Congress is considering a number of initiatives dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. Whether or not there is an agreement with Iran, the issue is bound to be a significant focal point in U.S.-Iran relations for the foreseeable future.

Previously strained US-Israel relations have turned “toxic,” in the words of former US secretary of state James Baker. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pre-election assertions are unlikely to be forgotten by Israel’s strongest ally, which has been committed for decades to the policy of two states for two peoples. While the US is currently reevaluating its options on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a pressing question remains: What can Netanyahu do in order to placate the White House and begin repairing this vital relationship? 

A report on EU-Russia relations by a UK House of Lords committee admits that the EU totally miscalculated Moscow’s reaction to the developments in Ukraine because of a lack of Russian experts, says Lord Peter Truscott. Britain's House of Lords has been debating a report suggesting relations between the EU and Russia have reached a critical level. 

Enjoying steady bilateral relations since diplomatic ties were established after the Vietnam War in 1976, the Philippines and Vietnam are now engaging in high-level dialogues to try to establish a strategic partnership.