The Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Construction was completed in 1967, and controversy has ebbed and flowed ever since, including with a recent ABC Background Briefing program. Anti-war activists have …
Articles by: "John Blaxland"
There are strong indications that Daesh is on the back foot in Iraq and Syria and its focus is increasingly on fanning the flames of sectarian violence amongst a diaspora in other countries, including Australia. …
After a succession of sour patches in bilateral ties between Jakarta and Canberra, there’s now a sweet breeze in the air in the Australia–Indonesia relationship. But what can be done to help it survive the …
Dr Albert Palazzo, the Director Research at Army Headquarters, has just published a thought-provoking short monograph entitled Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer. His stated objective is ‘to assist those tasked with thinking about the …
The East Timor crisis presented Australia with a unique opportunity to act like a real regional middle power. For a long time Australia has been a middle power with small power pretensions. East Timor made …
Sixteen years ago, Australia was on the brink of a major confrontation with Indonesia. A United Nations peacekeeping mission to the Indonesian province of East Timor, which was pushing for independence, had the potential to …
I write to make a further contribution to the ongoing debate about Australia’s strategic place as a Top 20 power. In Peter’s latest response he implies that regionalists are less ‘grown up’ than globalists. I …
The debate about Australia’s place in the global geostrategic equation, as reflected in the different posts of Peter Jennings, Andrew Carr and Rod Lyon, is a fascinating and important one. Peter and Rod are right …
At a time the Royal Australian Air Force is busy delivering humanitarian aid and military stores to communities under threat from Islamic State militants, a Chinese Navy medical assistance voyage to help some of our …
Developments in Iraq have sent shock waves around the Middle East, but the ramifications are global. With so many security challenges, and a particular aversion to conflict in Iraq, President Obama is unlikely to commit …
Thailand’s Army Chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha has detained representatives from all sides that went to meet him at the Army Club in Bangkok yesterday afternoon, finally declaring a coup. He must have known it would …
In declaring Martial Law on Tuesday, the Thai Army commander, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, appears to have sought to avert a catastrophe. Conscious of the bloodshed on the streets of Bangkok in May 2010 and eager …