The Western Australian parliament’s Community Development and Justice Standing Committee is currently examining the protection of crowded places in WA from terrorist acts. The inquiry is yet another example of how the states play a …
Debate: "General"
Three key factors defined the terrorist threat landscape in 2017: the international coalition’s military dismantling of Islamic State’s (IS) caliphate, and their return to a nebulous insurgency structure; increased IS activity in South East Asia …
There’s a problem now with Australia’s strategic logic. It isn’t a criticism of previous strategic guidance documents that they failed to anticipate seminal events that affected the international environment: the 1991 collapse of the Soviet …
Military engagement and post-conflict reconstruction are impossible to disentangle. Modern firepower means that even short wars can leave widespread devastation—shattered cities and infrastructure, dysfunctional institutions and weakened social and political structures. Also, contemporary warfare rarely …
Vladimir Putin’s re-election to a fourth term as Russia’s president was a foregone conclusion. The Kremlin undoubtedly orchestrated ballot-box stuffing and other measures to ensure that Putin received at least 70% of the vote across …
An Australia fully embracing Southeast Asia will be seeking to join the ASEAN Community, not Suharto’s ASEAN. The glimpse Australia has of its future in Southeast Asia—framed by Indonesia—is the opportunity offered by Jokowi rather …
After a run of nearly one thousand years, quipped the French philosopher and writer Voltaire, the fading Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Today, some two and a half centuries …
Dealing with China since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 has been a case of dewy-eyed optimism laced with frustration. The US reaction to this is starting to be clear under President …
The world Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have dominated headlines as the US president is poised to hit China with new trade penalties. A podcast by Brookings claims that these tariffs will backfire, harming US …
I’ve previously written about how elections consist of both the procedural and technical processes to collect and tally votes, and the arena of ideas where policies, platforms and promises are debated and discussed. Of the …
This article is the sixth in a series on ‘Women, Peace and Security’ that The Strategist will publish over coming weeks in recognition of International Women’s Day 2018. Eds. One of the key challenges when working in …
The ASEAN–Australia Special Summit attracted bipartisan Australian support, and was a success. We saw Malcolm Turnbull, in his carefully worded commentary and body language, engaging effectively with our neighbours. He understood the rhetorical need to …