On 19 February 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked the harbour and town in what remains the largest single assault ever mounted on Australian soil. For much of Australia, it’s a historical reference point. In Darwin, it’s …
The Strategist on: "ASPI staff"
Amid alarm stemming from President Donald Trump’s on-and-off-again tariff rise this week, let’s not lose our ability to distinguish between a mere flesh wound and amputation. The administration’s decision to raise the global baseline tariff …
Recent commentary has cast Australia’s effort at reducing under-16s’ use of social media as a technical policy stumble, a flawed experiment in age assurance and enforcement. That lens risks being too narrow. Yes, age verification …
New South Wales Police’s planned six-month trial of drones made by Chinese company DJI highlights broader considerations about management of risks associated with technologies that are owned, controlled or influenced by foreign entities. As with …
As major powers renew their focus on nuclear testing, the world may be entering a new nuclear era. Revelations that Beijing has conducted secret nuclear tests should trigger greater focus on China’s expanding nuclear arsenal. …
Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy and his British counterpart, Luke Pollard, will hold the Australia-United Kingdom Defence Industry Dialogue (AUKDID) when they meet in London next week. This is a timely return for …
The key destabilising feature of today’s information environment is no longer simply that democracies are targeted by adversaries’ misinformation and disinformation. Increasingly, the danger is coming from uninhibited partners in the allied ecosystem itself. The …
The 13th Australian Defence Magazine Northern Australia Defence Summit will return as part of NT Defence Week 2026 on 28 April. That timing matters. The 2024 National Defence Strategy is explicit: Australia’s strategy of denial …
US Vice President JD Vance used his speech at last year’s Munich Security Conference to chastise Europe for complacency in its security commitments. This year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Under Secretary of Defense …
A rules-based world order guaranteed by a collective of middle powers is possible if leaders confidently choose to strengthen military, diplomatic and economic levers of sovereign power. These countries, largely major developed economies, must diversify …
The speed of critical-minerals policy evolution has been unmistakable. In the past year alone, governments across the Indo-Pacific have tightened export controls, expanded sovereign investment vehicles, announced new agreements, and redirected defence industrial policy toward …
Fresh from a decisive electoral landslide, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has emerged more politically secure than ever—despite Beijing’s attempt in 2025 to make her a cautionary example over Taiwan. Rather than isolating her, China’s …