Several recurring debates animate foreign policy. The most basic is how much foreign policy to have, or how to strike the right balance between addressing domestic issues and problems abroad—in extreme form a debate between …
Debate: "General"
Anthony Albanese last week successfully passed what has become a foreign policy initiation for new Australian prime ministers: he established a good working relationship with his Indonesian counterpart. Whether Albanese’s business-like exchanges with Joko Widodo …
In November 2021, almost one year after he had posted a computer-generated image on Twitter of a grinning Australian soldier appearing to slit the throat of an Afghan child, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian …
In the broader discussion about Russia’s war on Ukraine, an important but overlooked element is the exodus of Russians from their homeland. Though it’s impossible to determine the scale of this phenomenon, we can expect …
A small proof that Australians live in interesting times (to borrow that apocryphal Chinese curse) is the interest directed at their country during the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit. On his first trip as deputy prime …
The US and China came to Singapore’s Shangri-La security dialogue to argue and score points, to talk and to taunt. The face-off presented as drama and fight. As the reigning champ, the US got to …
The first Shangri-La Dialogue since 2019 is a chance for world leaders and ministers to discuss urgent and long-term international security questions, including a focus on whether rules and sovereignty matter anymore. The answer has …
The annual Shangri-La Dialogue is a key moment to hear how major powers see the world and each other. This one is more key than ‘normal’—because the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that the dialogue was …
This week, ASPI released the 21st edition of its annual Cost of Defence budget brief, Australia’s most comprehensive analysis of defence spending. In this podcast episode, ASPI’s defence, strategy and national security program director Michael …
After nearly four years, the new government has reinstalled a dedicated minister for cybersecurity. Clare O’Neil will hold the reins, as well as running the (now slightly shrunk) mega-portfolio of Home Affairs. During the period cybersecurity has …
Sea state Australia has delivered a Guardian-class patrol boat to Cook Islands to replace its Pacific-class patrol boat. The handover is the 15th Guardian vessel supplied through the Pacific patrol boat replacement program and follows …
The death, destruction and disruption caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine suggest that short-term savings achieved by running down defence capabilities in peacetime can incur huge costs in the longer run. The cost of investing …