Australia heads towards a dismal achievement: halving what it spends on diplomacy in only three decades. The Joe Biden rule (‘Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value’) says Australia has …
Articles by: "Graeme Dobell"
Nobody wants to pay for good foreign policy, but everybody pays for bad foreign policy. Join that truth to a reality that rules the public service tribes of Canberra: your foes must also be your …
Anaemia: Lacking enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body, making the patient tired and weak. Anaemia can be temporary or long term and can range from mild to severe. For …
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 …
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 …