Sir James Plimsoll was a strategist. While his illustrious foreign service career might suggest that he was more an implementer than a crafter of policy, those of us who were privileged to see him at …
Debate: "General"
The Abbott government wants to accelerate the development of northern Australia. To advance that goal, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg recently announced a taskforce to explore options for reducing insurance premiums in northern Australia. The taskforce …
While China’s recent assertiveness in the South China Sea might shock and surprise today’s observers, its behaviour has actually been remarkably consistent over recent decades. China first exercised its power in the region in January …
The Beat AFP front the press following executions Following the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran last week, the Australian Federal Police discussed their operations around the Bali 9‘s 2005 arrest. While the AFP …
With preparations for the 2015 Defence White Paper well underway, I’d like to offer some thoughts about how strategic policy is—ideally—made. I see strategy as the purposeful actions undertaken by an actor within a specific …
When Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao participated in the founding meeting of the Central and Eastern European (CEE)–China Summit in Warsaw April 2012, it seemed few in Canberra asked why Poland was chosen by China …
Under the banner of a new special relationship, we are currently witnessing a second evolution of Japan–Australia strategic relations. Looking back, the relationship’s evolution has had two distinct phases; the first phase of evolution started …
When Prime Minister Tony Abbott opened the Australian memorial at New Zealand’s Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, he declared that New Zealand defence force personnel deploying to Iraq would be ‘splendid sons of ANZAC’. In …
Sea State This week’s release of ministerial advice under freedom of information laws has revealed that by discussing the high likelihood of Japan winning the SEA 1000 contract last year, Prime Minister Abbott acted against …
For many years Thailand was admired for its rapid economic growth. It was a good security partner for the US and Australia, and many foreigners liked visiting the country. The zigzag course of its political …
Last month, considerable homage was paid to the Anzac legacy. Australia has been scrupulous in acknowledging the ‘NZ’ in ANZAC at events across the country. And New Zealand is consistently ranked as the country most warmly …
Last week I attended a climate change and strategic military geography seminar held at Russell Offices in Canberra on the impact of climate change on Defence. The seminar was convened by the Global Change and Strategic …