From its inception, the AUKUS pact has been wrapped in expectations. Fundamentally, it is a technology and capability agreement—an accelerator. That may sound mundane but it is incredibly challenging. To realise its promise, three sovereign …
Debate: "General"
Almost one year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war is entering a new phase. Following the failed attack on Kyiv last year and the Ukrainians’ stunning counteroffensive that liberated Kharkiv in the north and …
Deterring an aggressive China will take creative use of all the art, science, diplomacy and other capabilities the United States and Australia can muster, says the general commanding the US Marines. In a discussion at …
What defence forces should Australia maintain at a time of strategic uncertainty and rapid technological change? This is the fundamental question currently facing Stephen Smith and Angus Houston, the authors of the defence strategic review. …
The start of 2022 held much promise for APEC economies. The Covid-19 pandemic seemed under control. As the 2022 APEC host, Thailand anticipated a full year of in-person meetings to focus the region’s attention on …
Ten years ago, retired Air Vice-Marshal John Blackburn released a landmark study that revealed the fragile state of Australia’s liquid-fuel security. It highlighted the country’s sole reliance on oil-based fuels for national transport systems and …
The spectre of Fiji’s ‘coup culture’ continues to loom over the republic despite the peaceful transfer of power on Christmas Eve 2022. That this occurred was due, in part, to Commander Major General Ro Jone …
In 2022, the geopolitical tensions caused by the war in Ukraine, slowing growth in the Chinese economy and sharp rises in energy and food prices led to a significantly higher inflationary outlook globally. These factors …
Space is both an old and a new operational domain. It has been militarised since the earliest days of the space age in the 1960s as the major powers employed satellites for communications, intelligence gathering …
For more than three-quarters of a century, the United States has played an outsized, constructive role in the world. To be sure, there have been major errors, including the Vietnam War and the 2003 Iraq …
Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy says the region plays a ‘critical role in shaping the country’s future over the next half-century’. The comprehensive and well-resourced strategy, published late last year, seeks to expand Canada’s collaboration with other …
China’s growing power and assertiveness have been significant drivers behind developments in Australian defence policy in the past few years. The previous government’s strategic update determined that the defence force needs the capability to ‘shape’ …