Last week New York’s attention was focused briefly on another major political transition taking place in 2017. A few blocks from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, ambassadors, diplomats and UN staffers were meeting in the …
Debate: "General"
The word ‘populism’ was everywhere in 2016. Political leaders claiming to speak for the people have achieved significant victories in Europe, Asia, and, with the election of Donald Trump, the United States. Populism first described …
This week we continue our look back at some of the year’s biggest cyber stories in our final cyber wrap for 2016! China finally adopted its controversial new cybersecurity law on 7 November, much to …
Last month, Prime Minister Turnbull revealed that Australia is undertaking offensive cyber operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. That followed on from the first acknowledgement that Australia possesses offensive cyber capabilities at the launch …
While Australia and Canada are similar in many ways, their approaches to defence policy are quite different, not least when it comes to their defence budgets. While Australia’s GDP is about 18% smaller than that …
It might seem ludicrous to suggest that Chinese President Xi Jinping, the country’s most powerful leader since Mao, will be in danger in 2017. But looks can be deceiving, and his consolidation of power may …
If you can fit your own nation’s interests into a submarine without it sinking, you’re doing well. But try to fit in the interests of a second and even a third nation and there’s danger …
Sea State The US Navy released its much-anticipated 2016 Force Structure Assessment (FSA) last week and the results are sure to please proponents of a large USN The FSA advocates a 355 ship navy, which …
Over the past week, Syrian government forces have recaptured the city of Aleppo and Iraqi forces have pushed deeper into Mosul. But the Middle East remains insecure, unstable and ungovernable. Those factors will enable Islamist …
…the tough get going—trite, perhaps, but appropriate in our current circumstances. 2016 ends in a much darker place than it started. The sense of reluctant resignation with which the year began has morphed into doubt …
One of the more striking developments of 2016 and its highly unusual politics was the emergence of a ‘post-fact’ world, in which virtually all authoritative information sources were called into question and challenged by contrary …
Indonesia’s failing drive for food self-sufficiency, which began under the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is costing domestic consumers tens of billions of dollars and has led to the highest rice prices in the Southeast …