For a long time, I thought that nuclear weapons were a tolerable evil. I bought into the argument that they played a positive role in some circumstances by deterring nations from going to war because …
Articles by: "Andrew Davies"
The Australian government is close to deciding which of the three big foreign companies wins the $35 billion contract to build nine antisubmarine warfare frigates for the Navy. We examine the SEA 5000 Future Frigate program’s three …
In its 50‑page review of the implementation of Australia’s naval shipbuilding program, the Australian National Audit Office managed to avoid using the word ‘shambles’. That’s more than I can manage. We’re only at the starting …
By my count this is my 285th contribution to The Strategist, and it’s my last in my time at ASPI. (But don’t breathe too big a sigh of relief—I intend to blight its virtual pages …
The past couple of weeks have been a case of ‘good news and bad news’ for customers of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. As a country about to commit to the bulk of its currently …
We’re in Tokyo this week for the fifth Quadrilateral Plus track-two dialogue, along with think tanks from Japan, India and the US. With the Quad starting to get a bit of momentum behind it, it’s …
One part of my talk at the Australian Defence Magazine’s annual defence industry conference that didn’t make it into my previous post was a digression about the recently released defence export strategy. Rob Bourke’s recent …
For over 15 years now, there’s been an ASPI presentation on the defence budget at the Australian Defence Magazine’s annual defence industry conference. Mark Thomson did the lion’s share of them, but I’ve been the …
Originally published 9 August 2017. With President Trump’s latest comments that North Korea is facing a response of ‘fire and fury’ if it endangers the US, it’s clear that the US president is at least …
Originally published 26 October 2017. This post is adapted from a presentation to the Australian Naval Institute’s 2017 Goldrick seminar. Let me start with something nice and uncontroversial. Submarines might be obsolete by the middle …
As our readers well know, The Strategist is a serious publication. We are not given to ‘silly season’ fluff pieces about baby animals or prone to shamelessly repackaging already-published material under the banner of retrospection. …
The organisational reforms to defence acquisition that followed the First Principles Review were extensive. Cassandras that we are, at the time we worried about the risk of a ‘perfect storm’ of deteriorating external strategic circumstances, …