In more normal times, when nuclear-powered submarines and multibillion-dollar contract cancellations didn’t dominate the news, plans to increase the US military presence operating out of Australia would be big news. It was swamped by the …
Articles by: "Michael Shoebridge"
At the time of the review of Australia’s intelligence agencies in 2017, extremism, state and non-state actors, climate change and technological change were all parts of the operating environment, along with rising competition between states. …
Yesterday’s virtual summit between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping followed two presidential telephone calls and last week’s joint declaration on enhanced climate action drafted by US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie …
Most of Defence’s grilling in Senate estimates yesterday was about plans and issues around getting eight nuclear submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. There was forensic questioning about who said what to whom about the …
By ending the contract with the French and committing to nuclear submarines through AUKUS, Prime Minister Scott Morrison recognised what we’d all come to know: the Attack-class submarine project was costing too much and taking …
The world’s gotten more dangerous—and quickly. And while nuclear submarines from the new AUKUS partnership will give Australia a powerful long-term deterrent, this won’t be a fast program that delivers inside 15 years. It’s becoming …
Australia is going to build nuclear submarines as part of a new broader defence technology pact with the US and the UK. How much the world has changed since just April 2016. Back then, Australia …
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s flight path on the way to Washington for the annual AUSMIN meeting with their American counterparts provides an insight into Australia’s policy directions and relationships as …
While Covid-19 continues to provide moments of awakening, it’s yet to become the catalyst for the paradigm shift expected by many in the back half of 2020. Perhaps this will change with the realisation that …
After the chaotic, violent withdrawal of US, NATO and Australian forces and nations from Afghanistan, it’s time to consider the big lessons for Australia. The handwringing and hysteria about the durability of American power are …
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has made comforting noises about China’s respect for the Taliban, but he’s also sent clear signals about what Beijing wants from Afghanistan’s new rulers and what Beijing worries about. And …
The collapse of the Afghan government and Afghan National Security Forces once US and NATO military support ended has been graphic and rapid. There are many analyses about the folly of US President Joe Biden’s …