Beneath Taiwan’s high-profile fight for global recognition lies a parallel contest in capitals scattered across the Caribbean and the Pacific. This is Beijing’s relentless campaign to isolate Taiwan diplomatically—country by country—until Taipei is left with …
On 29 May, ASPI released its annual defence budget briefing, The Cost of Defence. Introducing the report, ASPI executive director Justin Bassi reflected on its aim of ‘strengthening Australia’s long-term security, prosperity and sovereignty’ and its …
The six-year delay in approving Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf extension reflects a failure to integrate Indigenous Australians as strategic partners in the nation’s development agenda. Policymakers and project proponents should recognise the impasse is …
The Australian Defence Organisation’s budget is under pressure, and Defence must make choices, Admiral David Johnston, the chief of the defence force, said on 4 June when asked whether more money was needed. In preparation …
Beijing’s campaign to erase Taiwan from the international system is built on a lie. Beijing routinely claims that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, passed in 1971, settled the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty and confirmed …
Through a mix of subsidised tours, university scholarships, TikTok-style propaganda and influencer outreach, Beijing is trying to win over the generation in Taiwan that has grown up with democracy, freedom and a deepening sense of …
Under the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, investment and development are shifting toward northern Australia. This aims to reposition Defence capabilities and build a stronger network of ports and barracks. While often seen as deterrence, this …
Southeast Asian countries were formerly peripheral to debates on space governance. They had nascent space programs and modest capabilities, and their policy interests focused largely on civilian applications. But this is changing. Growing reliance on …
For all the talk about the South China Sea’s complexity as a security issue, its geopolitical significance to China is simple: China wants to condition Southeast Asian states to subordinate status. Southeast Asian countries would …
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 …
Few issues are as urgent and as poorly understood as Australia’s energy policy. While we build up renewable energy to replace an ageing and increasingly uneconomic coal fleet, we are more dependent on gas to …
Joseph S Nye Jr, who co-founded neoliberalism and identified the concept of soft power, died at the age of 88 on 6 May. Here are links to a selection from the 100 columns by Nye …