Welcome, dear readers, to our first ‘ASPI suggests’ for 2019. The world Fears of a no-deal Brexit continue to grip the UK. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt opened the year with a speech in Singapore filled …
Japan’s decision to deploy the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the joint strike fighter, the F-35B, from its Izumo-class warships will transform them into what many predicted they would eventually become—small aircraft …
Pyongyang recently issued a couple of statements that reinforce the view that North Korea has no intention to denuclearise. On 20 December, KCNA, the official North Korean news agency, published a commentary providing North Korea’s …
Originally published 12 July 2018. The head of the Chinese lunar exploration program, Ye Peijian, has remarked that: the universe is an ocean, the moon is the Diaoyu Islands, Mars is Huangyan Island. If we …
Australia’s defence force structure has evolved over many years around defending the ‘sea–air gap’ as a perceived strategic moat. That construct dates back to the late 1980s, when the outlook was far more benign and …
Europe Britain attempted something right out of Australia’s political playbook: a leadership spill (without years of practice, though, this one was unsuccessful and Theresa May remains PM). Vox, CNN and Carnegie get into the details. …
The world US President Donald Trump has announced plans to hold a second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un early next year. The New York Times highlights the failure of the pair’s meeting in …
The world Following the run-in between the Russian and Ukrainian navies in the Strait of Kerch, the stark escalation of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv is broken down by Christopher Miller for Radio Free Europe/Radio …
The intensifying competition between the US and China was on full display in Port Moresby during the recent APEC summit. For the first time in its history, the summit ended in failure without the release …
The world Following the arrest of former Interpol head Meng Hongwei, the organisation appointed a new president, South Korean Kim Jong-yang. Lindsey Snell, for The Daily Beast, explains how authoritarian countries use Interpol to persecute …
In an interesting, and highly significant, recent statement, China’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Lu Kang, challenged Australia’s traditional perception that the South Pacific is within its sphere of influence. He stated that, ‘The Pacific islands are …
The world This week’s headlines were dominated by reporting on the centenary of the end of World War I. Armistice commemorations were held across the world. ABC Nightlife reflects on the 100th anniversary in this …