For the third time in less than a century, the US government has rapidly awakened to Australia’s strategic importance. On this occasion, it’s focused on the significance of Australia’s northern strategic geography. While on previous …
The Strategist on: "North of 26° south"
Democracy has been increasingly securitised in recent years, but that’s set to change, as outlined in Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s National Press Club speech earlier this month. The big question is, what does the …
Australia holds key advantages in contributing to allied interests in space security, says Lieutenant-General Nina Armagno, the director of staff at the US Space Force, who was in Australia last week for ASPI’s space and …
In 1990, British psychologist James T. Reason developed his ‘cumulative act effect’ theory (also known as the ‘Swiss cheese model’) in which he argued that most accidents can be traced to one or more of …
Modern society proceeds on the basis that complex systems—human-made and natural—work reliably, both individually and in interaction with one another. However, the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme …
We often think about national resilience at times of crisis or conflict. However, the foundations for resilience are built with every decision we make before a crisis begins to unfold. Resilience is a nation’s ability …
In many Australian policy circles, nation-building is an archaic 1970s term—a throwback to a time when the federal government built infrastructure to encourage national prosperity. Today, cash-strapped federal, state, territory and local governments often have …
For decades, Australians’ faith in globalisation and economic liberalism ensured that discussions about resilience focussed on recovery from short-term disasters. But the impacts of Covid-19 and the exponential decline in global security in recent years …
Vast and, more often than not, hidden supply and value chains underpin modern Australian life. We’ve become accustomed to, if not overly confident in, the ability of markets to meet our every need and want. …
One of the significant challenges with commodity investments is knowing when to buy and sell. Some view such investments as a form of institutionalised gambling. However, an understanding of the market, and a firm plan …
Northern Australia sits at the end of extended food supply chains of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres in length. This feature has long been identified as a point of vulnerability for populations in the north of …
ASPI’s John Coyne is right to conclude that ‘logistics and infrastructure matter as much in major conflict today as they did in World War II’. In the broader history of conflict—of war and strategy—this realisation …