War in the Indo-Pacific is a real possibility. Increased competition, a growing trust deficit between global and regional powers and potential miscalculations heighten the danger. There needs to be a more engaged Australian discussion on …
Articles by: "William Leben"
Originally published 24 March 2022. The 2020 defence strategic update states that the Australian Defence Force is ‘to deploy military power to shape our environment, deter actions against our interests and, when required, respond with …
Australia’s national intelligence agency has released a report that ‘examines the implications of the increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, with special reference to …
In the first part of this series, I discussed the high rates of ammunition expenditure in the war in Ukraine and emphasised that this is a question not just of expensive missiles but also of …
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought renewed focus on questions of munitions stockpiling and production capacity. Efforts to secure as many modern anti-armour weapons from whoever can provide them have been a prominent feature …
We should be deeply concerned that, in the midst of what US President Joe Biden has described as the greatest risk of Armageddon since the Cuban missile crisis, Russia and NATO are this week conducting …
With the Ukrainian breadbasket’s link to global markets disrupted by the ongoing Russian invasion, global food security has been unusually prominent in the news cycle. Shortly after the invasion began, some analysts were quick to …
Despite the inevitably heavy redactions, the Department of Defence’s brief for the incoming government makes for interesting reading, including its section on climate change. The briefing, released under freedom of information laws, acknowledges that Defence’s …
Russia’s attempts to diversify its gas export markets have been in the news of late, and, despite the ambiguities, the prospects for and implications of these moves raise some important geopolitical issues. China has increased …
As the initial headline-grabbing moment of the AUKUS announcement has faded, the discussion in Australia has transitioned to the nitty gritty of getting nuclear submarines, in parallel with the pressing work of the nuclear-powered submarine …
The government’s announcement of a climate security risk assessment has been widely welcomed. Importantly, the timing of the risk assessment overlaps with the defence strategic review also announced by the new government. Advice has already …
The geopolitics of energy has been the subject of massively increased attention since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began almost six months ago. The history of the Russia–Ukraine conflict is shot through with Russian attempts to …