Articles by: "Paul Dibb"
Could Indonesia pose a future threat to Australia?

Following last week’s decision by an Indonesian court to jail the former governor of Jakarta—Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok)—for two years for blasphemy, we need to ask ourselves whether Indonesia is heading down the path of …

Dangerous platitudes about Trump

Much of the commentary in Australia since the US election has reeked of dangerous platitudes. A lot of ‘experts’ (none of whom forecast a Trump victory) are asserting that nothing much will change: President Trump …

The US election is dangerous for Australia

The US presidential election on 8 November could have grave implications for Australia’s security. The next US president may retreat into international isolationism. If President Trump wins there could well be serious consequences for our …

DWP 2016: the return of geography

Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper marks the return of geography to defence planning. Not that it had ever entirely disappeared, although Defence Minister Robert Hill at times tried his best to ridicule the importance of …

America’s greatest intelligence failure?

The US government has just released one of the most worrying reports about the risk of nuclear war in the Cold War and the dangers of miscalculating Soviet intentions. The top-secret document was released in …

Why the PLA is a paper tiger

It’s becoming commonplace to drum up the military threat from China and belittle America’s military capabilities. Much of this commentary reminds me of statements in the mid-1980s that the former Soviet Union was poised to …

Why did Putin decide to invade Ukraine?

In order to understand why Putin invaded Ukraine, we need to attempt to see into the mind of this former KGB colonel. Vladimir Putin believes that the West wants his overthrow—just as occurred in Kiev …