The incoming Australian Attorney-General George Brandis’ top priority is the elimination of what he views as a ‘left-wing control of the human rights debate’. And he plans to conduct a national audit of federal statutes …
Articles by: "Anthony Bergin"
I’ve just returned from Perth where I participated in two events. The first was a forum run jointly by the Africa Australia Research Forum at Murdoch University and the Crawford Fund (an organisation focused on …
If Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister next week, expect Australia to devote greater attention to the Indian Ocean. Shadow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Shadow Defence Minister David Johnston are both from Western Australia. They’ve …
ASPI recently convened a conference on Maritime Confidence Building Measures in the South China Sea. It was attended by 62 participants from 16 countries and considered maritime confidence building measures of a military and non-military …
As outlined by Tobias Feakin and Jessica Woodall’s post last week, ASPI recently launched its new international cyber policy centre in Sydney. An expert panel discussed many facets of Australian cyber policy. What wasn’t really …
Richard Herr’s recent post on Russia’s links with Fiji was fascinating. But it’s also worth noting that Russia has been active in our southern backyard. As long time Antarctic observer Andrew Darby recently pointed out: …
After more than a decade of involvement in the Middle East, Australia’s in the process of pivoting back to our own region and looking for new strategies for Defence re-engagement. In the past, the Defence …
Last week, President Obama completed a whirlwind official visit to west, southern and eastern Africa, stopping in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, important democratic US partners. The President announced a number of new initiatives designed …
Failure to adequately invest in critical infrastructure that provides essential functions and services for our society practically guarantees we’ll see failures of critical systems when they’re put under stress by extreme weather events. The Australian …
The 2013 Defence White Paper says that: ‘There is no credible risk of Australia’s national interests in the Southern Ocean and the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) being challenged in ways that might require substantial military …
On 23 April, Timor-Leste notified Australia that it had initiated arbitration under the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty of a dispute related to the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS). I’ve …
A couple of weeks ago my colleague Toby Feakin, wrote on The Strategist about the recently released United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s assessment on Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific, …