French anger over Australia’s decision to dump the diesel–electric submarine project is entirely justified and understandable. Even if, as some argue, the project’s inadequacies were increasingly apparent, there seems little doubt that Australia seriously misled …
In The Strategist in July, we outlined our concept for an Australian equivalent of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), mooted by ASPI. We envisaged this Australian version of DARPA filling the ‘valley …
The geopolitical story of the last few years has featured Western democracies’ gradual awakening to the realities of an increasingly ambitious and authoritarian China. European countries have gone from competing with each other to be …
The dramatic creation of AUKUS has focused attention on the military response to China’s increasing capacity to project force across the Indo-Pacific. The furore it sparked, highlighted by the predictably strong Chinese claims of retaliation, …
It is correct, as former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has asserted, that few of the questions raised by the government’s announcement that Australia will acquire nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs) have been answered. The particular question he …
Overshadowed by the excitement around AUKUS was a perhaps more significant development in strategic relations that came just the next day: China formally applied to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for …
Planet A The Bank of China will stop funding new coal projects abroad, following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s similar commitment to the UN General Assembly that China will stop building new foreign coal-fired power plants. …
On 13 September, just days before the announcement of the AUKUS arrangement, Australia’s and South Korea’s foreign and defence ministers met in Seoul. The week before, South Korea displayed a new conventional submarine able to …
In this month’s AUSMIN statement, somewhat overshadowed by AUKUS and Australia’s decision to purchase nuclear-powered submarines, was a notably robust paragraph about Taiwan. The statement used new phraseology, describing Taiwan as ‘a leading democracy and …
In a week when Australia’s relationship with France was left hanging by a thread due to the cancellation of the Attack-class submarine project, Germany quietly doubled the number of upcoming port visits to Australia by …
The Latin adage Si vis pacem, para bellum warns: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ Given the heightened risk of war between China and the United States, we might take heed of this ancient …
The Greens’ strong performance in Germany’s federal election—though not as strong as the party hoped just a few short weeks ago—offers hope that the country will now finally start moving in a more promising direction. …
