Reforms outlined in a July ASPI report, aimed at strengthening the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s (PJCIS), are insufficient. The recommendations don’t go far enough to fully address concerns around parliamentary oversight of …
Australia should offer to help Pacific partners by employing private military and security companies (PMSCs) in the Pacific to counter Chinese influence in grey-zone operations, allowing the Australian Defence Force to remain focused on high-end …
Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web has fundamentally redefined the nature of drone warfare and highlighted just how vulnerable Australia’s precious cache of exquisite systems truly is. The 1 June operation’s ingenious use of small, cheap, commercial …
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to return policy responsibility for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police to the Department of Home Affairs is more than a machinery-of-government change; it’s a long-term …
The Chinese embassy in Solomon Islands has reportedly pressured newly appointed Minister of Rural Development Daniel Waneoroa to quit an international group that challenges China’s authoritarian regime. This incident highlights Beijing’s increased tendency to pressure …
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking …
Australia has no room for complacency as it watches the second Trump Administration upend the US Intelligence Community (USIC). The evident mutual advantages of the US-Australian intelligence partnership and of the Five Eyes alliance more …
The risk of China spiralling into an unprecedentedly prolonged recession is increasing. Its economy is experiencing deflation, with the price level falling for a second consecutive year in 2024, according to recent data from the …
New Zealand wants to renegotiate its free association agreements with Cook Islands to secure increased transparency in its foreign partnerships. To do so, New Zealand will need to step up its own support and can …
New Zealand is taking too hasty and too abrasive an approach to Pacific islands, putting leadership in the region on edge. We see this in a bungled attempt to visit Kiribati that led to a …
The Biden administration struggled with adequately advancing US national security and foreign policy interests in the Pacific islands. The problem was that the White House failed to select the right business concept to pursue. What …
The Australian government’s regulatory approach to tackling disinformation misses the mark by focusing on content moderation and controlling access to platforms. This focus on symptoms is like fighting a flood by mopping the floor: it …
