The Pacific doesn’t have a drug problem. Australia and New Zealand do. And our unrelenting demand for illicit drugs is exporting instability into the region. A recent report in The Australian warned that Pacific Islanders deported …
The Strategist on: "ASPI staff"
Wednesday’s announcement of a new security treaty between Australia and Indonesia marks a meaningful shift in regional diplomacy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Prabowo Subianto’s decision to formalise deeper security cooperation revives a familiar …
The landmark critical minerals agreement between Australia and the United States is vital to both nations’ security and sovereignty. Like AUKUS, it is about competing with China. But to enable it we now need also …
Global decarbonisation goals, the digital revolution and economic growth are driving an unprecedented rise in demand for critical minerals. At the same time, Southeast Asian nations are positioning themselves for varied roles in critical minerals …
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s first year in office has made clear that his technology agenda is about digital sovereignty and state capacity, beyond shiny infrastructure. While his digital policy sits quietly behind populist social programs …
Australia needs a dedicated aerospace testing range, and it should be in the Northern Territory. Developing aircraft, missiles and their equipment, and verifying new capabilities added to them, requires real-world testing in large airspaces equipped …
Governments across the Indo-Pacific are facing a critical question: who can be trusted to build and manage our most sensitive systems? Vendor choices, for everything from cloud infrastructure to identity platforms, are no longer just …
When an Australian patrol aircraft met a Chinese jet over the South China Sea last month, the encounter quickly moved beyond airspace to digital space. Beijing’s subsequent coordinated online campaign shows that information operations are …
Australia stands at a crossroads where ambition, fiscal restraint and strategic necessity intersect. The Future Made in Australia agenda, once a rallying cry for sovereign capability and clean-energy transformation, is now the test case for …
The frequency with which Australia’s director-general of security now addresses the public should give us pause. Before Director-General Mike Burgess, leaders of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) rarely spoke beyond closed briefings. Today, those …
Recent bilateral and multilateral initiatives show a clear acceleration in India–Australia critical minerals engagement. This growth has been characterised by government memorandums of understanding, tariff-reducing trade agreements, joint research hubs and cross-border industry investments. Both …
Australia should consider implementing a wall of drones to its north, to enhance its strategy of denial, consistent with its unique strategic and operational circumstances. Such a drone wall would contribute to the Australian Defence …