Australia’s 2024 national defence strategy describes Japan as an ‘indispensable partner’ for achieving regional peace and security. But the prominence of the growing defence relationship between Japan and Australia, while vital, risks obscuring opportunities to …
Australia’s approach to the Israel-Iran war has so far been based on a flawed model of statecraft. It’s one that tends to balkanise problems into convenient buckets, to be tackled piecemeal, rather than recognising the …
ASPI’s Cost of Defence 2025–26, published yesterday, revealed that Australia risked trailing its peers in the region, Five Eyes and Europe unless the government promptly found additional money for defence. It acknowledged that the government …
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to …
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles and their Kiwi counterparts need to discuss nuclear deterrence, not just non-proliferation, when they meet in Auckland for the second 2+2 Australia-New Zealand ministerial consultations (ANZMIN) today. …
The 17 October announcement that Australia would give 49 surplus M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine is welcome, regardless of quibbles over the timeliness of the decision. Australia’s domestic debate over the process for donating materiel …
For two countries so geographically far apart, Australia and Norway have surprisingly aligned strategic perspectives. This has underpinned a burgeoning defence industry partnership and unprecedented reciprocal visits by defence ministers last month. ASPI hosted Norway’s …
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was right to champion a new declaration for the protection of humanitarian personnel at the United Nations in New York this week. But the initiative will only be effective if it …
China has recently made two provocative military incursions into Japanese territory in just a week, with a surveillance plane breaching airspace on 26 August and a survey ship entering territorial waters on 31 August. On …
The possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House has resuscitated debate about the reliability of the US alliance, including the nuclear protection Washington extends to Australia and other allies. Whoever wins the presidential …
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will represent Australia at the 10th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo this week. Wong should use the opportunity to publicly affirm the importance of Japan’s contribution to peace …
The leaders assembled in Washington for the NATO summit this week cannot avoid talking about the ghost at the feast, Donald Trump, who looks increasingly set to win the US presidential election in November. Allies …