Oz president, Oz cabinet

Australian politics has grafted presidential habits onto a system of cabinet government. And recently, the Oz body politic has rejected the graft. The mismatch between presidential aspiration and parliamentary power introduces stutters and stuff-ups into …

ASPI suggests

Welcome back for another dose of defence and strategy links, this week coming to you from the ISCS–RIS conference on India and the Indian Ocean in Bhubaneswar, India’s ‘City of Temples’. Kicking off with the …

Some thoughts on the new US Maritime Strategy

This post is a contribution to a series leading to ASPI’s Future Surface Fleet Conference from 30 March to 1 April 2015. Registration closes 23 March. A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower: Forward, Engaged, Ready, the long-awaited …

CT Scan

This week’s CT Scan features the Tunis attack, Australian CT laws, passport cancellations, radicalised teens, the Islamic State hostage experience, families, prison and how to study CT. On Wednesday, at least 20 people were killed …

Ukraine: the Mariupol test?

Frustrated by European reluctance to arm Ukraine, two prominent former US officials—Hans Binnendijk, formerly senior director for defence policy at the US National Security Council, and John Herbst, US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to …

The Beat

This week on The Beat: drug use and gambling, Colombian organised crime, Taliban funding from organised crime, Facebook cracking down on extremists, the PJCIS declaration of the al-Raqqa province, US Homeland Security recommendations, Australia’s Muslim …

Hainan Island and China’s South Sea Fleet

Recent reports talk about China’s possible establishment of a ‘fourth’ naval fleet with jurisdiction over the Indian Ocean region (IOR), joining the existing North Sea Fleet, East Sea Fleet, and South Sea Fleet. This mysterious …

Cyber Wrap

The third wave of the Internet is upon us, or so suggested AOL co-founder Steve Case at this year’s SXSW Interactive in Austin this week. According to Case, companies will need to foster partnerships with …

Gun trafficking and mandatory jail terms

With an estimated 260,000 illegal (unregistered) guns already in Australia, the horse is already on its way out the stable door. Still, every illegal firearm counts: the significance of the threat is such that government …