Countering violent extremism – the ‘soft power’ approach

The new National Security Strategy points to the Commonwealth’s Countering Violent Extremism Strategy as a key feature of its approach to countering terrorism, espionage and foreign interference. Community programs designed to counter violent extremism—so-called ‘soft power’ counter-terrorism …

The NSS: a strategy within a strategy

Last week’s National Security Strategy has attracted a mixed reaction, with many commentators focussing (rightly) on the vagueness of the document and the lack of any concrete spending commitments. But the PM’s speech on launching the …

Submarines and maritime strategy – part 1

Nic Stuart’s enquiry regarding the need for submarines, asks the reader to think back to the very beginning, the 2009 Defence White Paper. Yet, 2009 is hardly an appropriate start point if we are to …

ASPI suggests: Australia Day edition

Happy Australia Day! Coming to you from Jakarta once again, here’s a jam-packed edition of ASPI suggests, our collection of links, reports and news from the security, defence and strategy world for your long weekend …

A strategy as a statement

Having nearly a five year gap between ‘annual’ national security statements does offer one benefit—the chance to compare and contrast successive documents to assess directions and decisions. PM Gillard quietly disposed of the ‘annual’ burden …