Late last week a US drone killed Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban—known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. This is a serious body blow to the TTP, which had …
Debate: "General"
With Australia’s 2017–18 natural disaster season over, it’s timely to acknowledge the superlative capabilities of our emergency service agencies, planners and support staff, whether working full-time or volunteering, who were on-call during the season. …
In May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, the long-term mayor of Davao City, won a resounding victory in the Philippines national presidential election. He has since set in train a highly populist agenda that has seen internal …
Once again we’re embarked on an endeavour to defuse the Korean peninsula as the perennial flashpoint in Asia. We’ve been here before—notably during the 2003–05 six-party talks—so we know most of the important bits of …
The China relationship is both a complex and crucial one. Politically and culturally, China and Australia are very different countries, and in such complex relationships, differences of approach, objective and opinion will inevitably arise. …
Sea state Australia is set to enhance its submarine capability through sonar upgrades to all six Collins-class boats. The $230 million contract with Thales is part of a bigger $542 million project to upgrade the …
It is frequently said that we are experiencing an information revolution. But what does that mean, and where is the revolution taking us? Information revolutions are not new. In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press launched …
As Defence embarks on a series of massive and complex building programs, the department’s secretary, Greg Moriarty, has warned that it needs to become more effective at managing projects. ‘A lot of very good work …
US President Donald Trump returned from his short summit meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an exultant mood. ‘Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office’, Trump …
The news that China has deployed bombers and cruise missiles to contested reefs and islands in the South China Sea has caused significant concern. The move allows Beijing to target ships in disputed waters with …
Gender equality offers a sizeable economic opportunity for any country. A government that hopes to achieve strong growth without tapping into women’s full potential is essentially fighting with one hand tied behind its back. In …
Two coming elections will have massive implications for Australia’s external relations. The outcome of the US 2018 mid-term elections will determine the course of the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidential term. The result …