A retired secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs is fulminating that the department is in a deplorable ‘crisis’. ‘The quality and conduct of Australia’s foreign relations are suffering’, he writes. The government doesn’t love …
Articles by: "Graeme Dobell"
Fifty years ago this month, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs was born, casting aside its old moniker, External Affairs. The name changed as Australia changed. The switch from External Affairs to Foreign Affairs was a …
When intelligence folk smell roses, they look for the funeral. That bit of spy lore is about finding the opportunity in the threats (or vice versa). The lore hints at the mystique of the trade: …
Spies are prey to principle, pride, passion and payment. Betrayal is driven by everything from cause to cash. In a history of espionage, The anatomy of a spy, Michael Smith writes that spies spy for …
‘Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports. Be …
Australia’s overseas spies shelter in the most silent spaces of the spook universe. The 68-year-old ethos of the spies of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service is never to speak publicly, just as they aim never …
Where Australia’s foreign minister visits tells much about what she and her government value. Covid-19 means overseas travel for Marise Payne costs 14 days’ quarantine on the return to Oz. The travel test now comes …
Donald Trump went negative and then he tested positive. Trump visited chaos on the first campaign debate. Then Covid-19 did the same to his campaign. The Donald’s ability—call it a skill—to shout and shift is …
The departure of Abe Shinzo as Japan’s leader opens a new era for Canberra’s quasi-alliance with Tokyo. Australia is going to find out how much its small ‘a’ alliance is based on Abe and how …
Submarines are a top-of-the-budget answer to a top-of-the-pile nightmare. The argument for subs lies within the fundamental call on any nation: defend the realm and protect the currency (proving the oldest-profession status of strategists and …
Australia started the journalist war with China. Tit-for-tat logic made it inevitable that Australian journalists in China would pay the price. Hard questions should be asked about Canberra’s thinking on the costs and consequences of …
Submarines are so vital to Australia that two of our past prime ministers have publicly pointed to the nuclear-powered option. Shifting from the conventional power of the existing Collins class and the planned Attack class …