Sea state The Chinese and Russian navies are conducing joint exercises in the waters off Vladivostok. The exercises include, among other things, simulations of detaining intruding vessels and rescuing ships in distress. Vladivostok locals were …
Debate: "General"
Germans have voted to keep Angela Merkel as chancellor, and expressed deep unhappiness about her Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) – Social Democrat (SPD) coalition government. The SPD, the party of former chancellors Willy …
‘With an annual budget approaching $2 billion and about 7,000 staff spread across 10 agencies, it is clear to us that on size alone the Australian Government’s intelligence activities supporting national security are now …
The Kurds are flavour of the month. We are now familiar with media coverage of Kurdish fighters, many of them women, pushing back the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Pursuing …
The world The Economist published two excellent pieces that provide the context for President Trump’s growing Iran problem. The first explores the prospect of Iranian regional hegemony and nuclear ambitions. The second examines the mess …
Since it was formed by Mohammed Yusuf in the early 2000s, Boko Haram, or Jama’a Ahl as-Sunna Li-da’wa wa-al Jihad (roughly translated from Arabic as ‘people committed to the propagation of the Prophet’s teachings …
Earlier this week, the minister for justice, Michael Keenan, formally released the Commonwealth Law Enforcement International Engagement Methamphetamine Disruption Strategy. The Australian Federal Police (AFP)–led strategy is meant to provide ‘the framework for the Australian …
In 2003, the Bush administration caused a furore by proposing a new type of nuclear weapon, formally called the ‘Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator’ (RNEP), to defeat hard and deeply buried targets. The term ‘mini-nuke’ quickly …
The beat Women and policing The 2017 International Women and Law Enforcement Conference is coming to an end today in Cairns. The gathering focused on ‘enhancing and supporting women in law enforcement and other community …
Nick Bryant went close to saying, ‘The emperor has no clothes!’ in his recent Lowy Interpreter article on rethinking of the value proposition of e-diplomacy. Appropriately, the post came to me via my Twitter feed …
President Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly has attracted considerable media attention—though mostly for his comments about North Korea and Iran. But I’d urge readers to examine the full text. That’s not because …
In May 1917, the French Army on the Western Front mutinied after the collapse of yet another ill-conceived offensive and the British Expeditionary Force assumed the main burden of the fighting. Its commander-in-chief, Field Marshal …