The independence referendum in my native land has attracted more attention on this side of the world than I would have imagined. Separatist movements in the region are studying the Scottish example to see what …
Debate: "General"
When Prime Minister Abbott addressed the Boao Forum in China in early April, he told his audience that ‘Australia is not in China to do a deal, but to be a friend’. Actually, since he …
While it’s possible we could get an Ebola case in Australia, the chances are pretty low, with no direct flights between here and the west African countries most affected. Those countries also now have in …
Titles are always difficult, so give a good mark to ‘Australia’s Defence: Towards a New Era?‘ Mixing pickiness with praise, tick the ‘new era’ idea while guffawing at the question mark hanging off the title. …
It’s (another) public holiday here in Canberra but we’ll be back tomorrow with our usual considered analysis, stats and graphs for your reading pleasure. Can’t wait until tomorrow? Check out the new videos released last week on our YouTube channel. …
Headlining today’s round-up is a CTC Sentinel post by Andrew Zammit on new developments in Australian foreign fighter activity. Among the key changes, he notes that since November 2013 Australian fighters have preferred to fight …
After nearly thirteen years, an election rife with fraud, and an audit process so contested that the parties agreed not to release the final vote totals (but leaked them anyway), Afghanistan has completed its first …
Brendan Nelson will be remembered as the defence minister who pushed through the Super Hornet purchase as a hedge against further delays in the long-troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. While Air Force held tight …
The diagnosis of the first case of ‘imported’ Ebola in the US has heightened public awareness and anxiety over the current outbreak in west Africa. The development sits atop a wave of recent depressing assessments. …
It now seems a real possibility that the replacement for the Collins-class submarines might come from Japan, rather than being built in Australia as previously promised by the government. The principal argument for that proposal …
If the First Principles Review of Defence goes back to first principles, it’ll have to examine the diarchy wherein Defence is jointly headed by the Secretary and CDF. That’s likely to occur given that one …
The recent debate over coalition strategy against ISIL has reawakened a related question: whether to support rebel groups in Syria in their fight against ISIL and Bashar al-Assad, and if so how? Even former US …