As the Chinese Communist Party convenes next week to embellish and extend Xi Jinping’s role as emperor, the mandate of heaven wobbles. The imperial mandate has been translated into a Marxist mandate of history. Heaven …
Debate: "General"
The Indonesian government’s announcement on 27 September of its agreed 2023 defence budgetary allocation leaves Indonesia no closer to having a military capable of wielding a ‘minimum essential force’ (MEF) by 2024, let alone, on …
On 29 September, member states of the International Telecommunications Union voted to elect Doreen Bogdan-Martin as the organisation’s next secretary-general. Bogdan-Martin—a US national who’s served in the ITU since 1994—was in contention for the top …
There has been a discernible upturn in India–Australia defence ties in recent months, with increased interaction between the two maritime nations through bilateral and multilateral military exercises. The maritime waters between Indonesia and northern Australia …
The independent leads of Australia’s defence strategic review, Stephen Smith and Angus Houston, have a tough task on their hands. It’s the first such review since Paul Dibb’s in 1986, which largely governed the 1987 …
Australia has long positioned itself as a leader in the global effort to eradicate modern slavery. Two reports released in the past three months highlight both the importance of this leadership to Australia’s broader strategic …
Geography influences the strategic choices of all countries, but Vietnam is an interesting case of a ‘swing’ state in comparative grand-strategy terms. The country occupies the eastern part of the Indochinese Peninsula, with an elongated …
Vast and, more often than not, hidden supply and value chains underpin modern Australian life. We’ve become accustomed to, if not overly confident in, the ability of markets to meet our every need and want. …
The rapidly changing strategic environment is prompting reassessments of Australia’s defence posture and capability. Rather than simply reviewing equipment purchases and stepping up training schedules, there’s cause for a deeper re-evaluation of the strategic logic …
Marine safety and sea transport are major concerns for the Pacific islands region. The island states have a high level of dependence on inter-island transport for the movement of both goods and people. All Pacific …
Russia’s war in Ukraine is the most disruptive conflict that Europe has seen since 1945. While many in the West see a war of choice by Russian President Vladimir Putin, he says that NATO’s 2008 …
The Chinese Communist Party is attempting to influence public discourse in Solomon Islands through coordinated information operations that spread false narratives and suppress information contradictory to the party’s message. Since November 2021 when anti-Beijing riots …