China is testing Prabowo Subianto’s new administration, with three successive incursions by China Coast Guard vessels into Indonesia’s exclusive maritime jurisdiction—the first occurring on the new president’s inaugural day in office. Jakarta urgently needs to …
The core of a coalition to oppose China in the South China Sea must be the Southeast Asian claimants themselves. They must recognise that the threat they jointly face requires them to settle or at …
The Quad is hobbled in its current configuration as a diplomatic partnership that deliberately eschews defence cooperation as part of its agenda. It’s time to test the waters with a meeting of Quad defence ministers. …
Mauritius is getting sovereignty over the remote Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, but Britain will continue to administer the strategically crucial island of Diego Garcia for another century, preserving the Anglo-American joint base on …
Which country is Singapore’s ‘special and most-trusted partner’, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong? For a globally networked city state that excels in ‘multi-alignment’ and spurns formal alliances, the crop of potential candidates is abundant. …
In Australia, unlike Britain or the United States, AUKUS is subjected to a relentless barrage of criticism from various quarters. This is more than a fringe campaign. Prominent critics include a former prime minister from …
When Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles signs a new bilateral Defence Cooperation Agreement today with Indonesia’s Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, observers would be wise to treat Australian claims of its ‘historic’ significance with …
HMAS Sydney, one of Australia’s three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers this month became the first Australian warship to test fire Raytheon’s RIM-174A SM-6 missile, during Exercise Pacific Dragon off Hawaii. This followed hot on the …
Anwar Ibrahim would not be the first political dissident who has struggled with the transition from opposition to incumbency. In office, his grasp of complex policy issues, such as the South China Sea, has sometimes …
John Healey, the secretary of state for defence in Britain’s new Labour government, could be forgiven for not putting the country’s geostrategic presence in the Indo-Pacific at the top of his to-do list. Russia’s aggression …
Against a gloomy strategic backdrop and painfully slow growth in Australian military capability, the government’s critics are urging it to commit more money on a tighter timescale to the nation’s defence. Money certainly matters, but …
China has identified the beleaguered garrison at Second Thomas Shoal as a weak link among the South China Sea features physically occupied by the Philippines and, by extension, the US-Philippines alliance. While Manila has held …
