The imminent visit to Perth of a British nuclear attack submarine (SSN) clearly demonstrates Britain’s commitment to AUKUS, going ahead despite the Royal Navy’s current challenges in deploying its SSNs. The visit is also a …
The Strategist on: "ASPI staff"
While Australia’s defence strategy has moved north at speed, its permanent workforce has not. The latest analysis product from ASPI’s Northern Australia Policy Centre maps the distribution of regular Australian Defence Force members across Australia …
Beijing has temporarily adjusted how its military operates across the Indo-Pacific. This includes less aggressive behaviour from flotillas sailing deep into the region and its military engagements inside the first island chain. But it’s a …
Northern Australia is where economic security stops being a slogan and starts being tested. What sounds abstract in Canberra becomes brutally practical in Darwin, Tindal and the Barkly, where distance, infrastructure, workforce and sustainment constraints …
China has built not only a military to coerce Taiwan, but an army of lawyers to intimidate and constrain it. In 2025, Beijing’s lawfare campaign shifted decisively from largely declaratory threats to active enforcement. The …
Since the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, the government has spoken often and loudly about the strategic importance of northern Australia. The language has been consistent: a more dangerous region, a need to operate from Australia’s …
For the first time in its 47-year history, Australia’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI, previously Office of National Assessments [ONA]) is led by a woman: Kathy Klugman, senior diplomat and prime-ministerial adviser. Today’s deteriorating strategic …
China’s ambassador has chosen a public platform to apply pressure on Australia, shape domestic debate and threaten retaliation over a sovereign national-security decision. With this, Beijing has transformed a policy review on Chinese control of …
By decisively consolidating his personal power, President Xi Jinping’s latest purge of senior military leadership increases strategic risk for Australia and the rest of the Indo-Pacific. The investigation of two of China’s most senior military …
An audit of Australia’s military landholdings and the government’s response to it, both issued on 4 February, mark the most significant reform of the assets in decades. Long expected, the audit lands at a critical …
Last week X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, made an allegation of enormous consequence with remarkable casualness: China controls millions of spam accounts used to censor the platform during periods of political unrest. Responding publicly …
The New START treaty between the United States and Russia expires on 5 February, leaving no binding arms control agreement or guardrails between the two countries. For the past 15 years, the treaty has limited …