Evaluating Defence Minister Johnston’s address to ASPI’s national security dinner, my colleague Benjamin Schreer warns that pundits tend to over-analyse government statements. Then he dives into searching for markers of policy change. Let me do …
Articles by: "Karl Claxton"
Ideas about the future lie at the heart of strategic thinking. As major capability acquisitions often take years to decide or implement, and countries are stuck with the results for decades, strategy is partly governed …
We thank Joanne Wallis and other scholars for their interest in our Special Report, A stitch in time, which aims to put Bougainville’s coming referendum back on the policy radar. While all the responses agree …
An ASPI report published this morning sets out a plan to help deliver a sustainable solution for the future of Bougainville. A decade after the successful peacekeeping mission, and a year and a half before …
Last month, ASPI and the Australian Department of Defence co-chaired the inaugural Northeast Asia Defence and Security Forum in Sydney. It was a wide ranging discussion, with a particular focus on how all parties could …
A decade ago today, lead elements of the nearly 2,000 troops, police, and officials from the nine Pacific Islands Forum countries initially comprising the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) arrived to begin their …
The Prime Minister’s quick visit to Papua New Guinea this week focused on the asylum-seeker issue, but also has some wider security implications. Although Mr Rudd enjoys good personal relations with Sir Michael Somare, PM …
Shortly after dawn on 24 July 2003, the first Hercules touched down in Honiara with lead elements of the 1,400 troops, 300 police, and officials from the nine Pacific Forum countries initially comprising the Regional …
What’s China up to in our near neighbourhood? That’s an important question at a time when Australia has just declared that we’ll structure the ADF around just two of our Principal Tasks (PDF), the second …
Coming just a week after the inaugural South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting in Tonga, Friday’s Australia–Papua New Guinea Defence Cooperation Arrangement helps cement the new Defence White Paper’s emphasis on security cooperation in our near …
Today’s Defence White Paper confirms an increasing focus on the security, stability and cohesion of Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the South Pacific states. Minister Smith signalled Government’s intent to ‘bring our own immediate neighborhood …
Recent media coverage of the Senkaku/Diaoyu stand-off has painted the picture of a powder-keg so dangerous it could force Australia to make stark Cold War-style choices; either helping to stare down or else bending over …