The UN failed to offer leadership after the Arab Spring
In his meetings with other world leaders in Germany, Turkey and Manila, Malcolm Turnbull has positioned Australia well, at the forefront of a renewed "single coalition" to combat Islamic State. As the US negotiates with Russia for a co-ordinated military approach, Australia will play its part in intensifying airstrikes to disrupt Islamic State's activities and leaders. Australia already has 780 defence personnel in service in Iraq, operating six F/A-18 fighter bombers that cross into Syria as needed. Britain's David Cameron wants the RAF to extend its involvement from Iraq to bomb the "head of the snake" at Islamic State headquarters in Raqqa. There is also room, as Henry Kissinger said on Monday, for other EU nations to join France in the coalition, given the abject failure of "soft power". The discovery of mass graves of women thought too old to be Islamic State sex slaves, near Sinjar in Iraq, should strengthen international resolve. 
Australia, as the second largest non-regional contributor to the war against Islamic State, also deserves a place at the table in pursuit of a political settlement in Syria. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop needs to put her A-grade diplomacy and perhaps her death stare to work to ensure Australia is included in the next round of talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin left Australia, Canada and Japan out of last week's diplomatic summit in Vienna. The discussions are aimed at achieving the groundwork for a possible UN Security Council resolution, ceasefire and transitional government in Syria. If the UN were more effective at brokering solutions and fostering peace it would have initiated such a process four years ago when the Arab Spring in Syria degenerated into mass murder under President Bashar al-Assad. The UN's incompetence has contributed to the deaths of about 250,000 people - half of them civilians - in the Syrian civil war and to the rise of Islamic State in the Middle East and internationally. Senior government figures believe Mr Putin, in his petulance, barred Australia from the Vienna meeting because he resents our concentration on regional relationships with China, Japan, India, the US and the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. The appointment of a new ambassador to Moscow, Peter Tesch, is a chance to reboot Russian-Australian relations. Mr Tesch, a senior officer, is head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's international security division.The Paris massacre has already prompted tougher strategies and greater intelligence sharing to deal with jihadists returning from Iraq and Syria. Not surprisingly, French President Francois Hollande wants to jail the traitors. Australia's move to work more closely with Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum members is important for Southeast Asian security as hundreds of Indonesians and Malaysians and more than 100 Australians are fighting with Islamic State. The "single coalition" taking shape to combat the death cult must involve military, political, intelligence and deradicalisation strategies that reach beyond national borders.