Public debate about reform of our citizenship laws continues to be hampered by a significant categorisation error. Whether Australian citizenship should be held by traitors remains the heart of the matter. The core issue is …
Debate: "General"
Australia and Canada have similar defence problems. Both have a continental area to surveil and defend; and both front onto three oceans, while having to build their defence forces from the resources of relatively small …
In February 2015, President Barack Obama listed climate change alongside international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and infectious disease in a new national security strategy. The US National Security Strategy called climate change ‘an urgent …
Indonesia’s economic slowdown seems to be going from bad to worse with economists and business leaders blaming a lack of confidence in Joko Widodo government’s policies as much as plunging exports and a drop in …
ASEAN’s leaders are worried about what history tells them about the future of Southeast Asia. The fears about the lessons of history are a discordant note as ASEAN steps up to a great moment in …
If you thought the Australian budget was a difficult beast to wrangle, you won’t envy the Chinese government’s predicament. Deutsche Bank predicted earlier this year that Chinese central government revenue will grow by a mere …
Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. It’s not an anniversary likely to attract much attention in the average Aussie pub, but perhaps one that strategists might like to mark. The battle …
Three weeks ago, the finance minister announced the third delay, and the fourth get-well initiative, for the beleaguered Air Warfare Destroyer program. In case you’ve lost track, delays and remediation initiatives were announced in 2011 …
After a year of ‘degrading and destroying’ Islamic State (IS) overseas and well over a decade confronting the broader threat of Islamist militancy at home, there are no doubts: we are losing on both fronts. …
The definitive statement on the roles and required capabilities of future Australian submarines must await the release of Defence White Paper 2015 and associated Force Posture Review, both due in August-September this year. It seems …
The Beat New tools to fight organised crime Commenting on the UK’s Serious and Organised Crime Act 2015, Anna Sergi argues that the new law may create more problems. She considers criminalising association with organised …
Geoffrey Barker has written an important couple of posts (here and here), arguing the case for a post-ANZUS defence policy for Australia. Important because, if he is right, and ANZUS has passed its use-by date, …