War risks to Australian maritime trade

If push comes to shove between China and the United States, Australia’s international trade with Asia is at risk of becoming collateral damage.  The sea routes through Indonesia and to Asia around the east of …

Why cyber indictments and sanctions matter

On 25 March, the US and Britain attributed malicious cyber activity to a China-based hacking group backed by the Chinese government. They issued indictments and sanctions. The hacking was aimed at influencing opinion, at suppressing …

OSINT capability should be dispersed through government

Stealing other countries’ secrets is the form of intelligence gathering that gets most attention—and resources. But a mass of information is publicly available and just waiting to be collected, to produce what’s called open-source intelligence …

The meaning of Sweden’s NATO accession

On March 7, Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, ending its 200-year-old policy of neutrality. The decision was largely influenced by the changing security environment following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and geographic …

How to bring the whole-of-nation with you

The Australian government is embracing a whole-of-nation approach to international policy. This means that, in enhancing international engagement, it wants to use resources across society—beyond core international policy actors, such as the departments of Defence …

How to think about AI policy

In Poznan, 325 kilometers east of Warsaw, a team of tech researchers, engineers, and child caregivers are working on a small revolution. Their joint project, ‘Insension’, uses facial recognition powered by artificial intelligence to help …