The Chinese party-state’s technology-enhanced authoritarianism is expanding globally. But the way it’s doing it isn’t always distinctly coercive or overtly invasive. While there’s been an important focus on technologies such as 5G, surveillance and cyber-enabled …
A basketball official, a big gaming company, Tiffany jewellers and Apple have all apparently ‘hurt the feelings of the Chinese people’ by either saying something in support of the Hong Kong protesters or allowing their …
Wargaming needs more female strategists Becca Wasser, a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, has penned an article for The New York Times Magazine on her experience as a female defence strategist and wargamer. …
The US has done it again. It has once more betrayed Kurdish aspirations for autonomy, this time in Syria. This behaviour fits into a longstanding pattern of moves undertaken by Washington for the past four …
Bougainville knows far better than Britain that a referendum vote to go or to stay is only the first mountain. Then the second mountain must be climbed—the negotiation to turn the outcome into a reality. …
Wang Jen-shu, the first ambassador to Indonesia of the People’s Republic of China, spent a troubled couple of years as Beijing’s man in Jakarta in the early 1950s. He clashed repeatedly with a prime minister, …
The world Turkey has begun ‘Operation Peace Spring’, its military offensive in northern Syria against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), following the US withdrawal from the area. The SDF is composed primarily of fighters from …
At least five things prompt me to write this piece. First, as the defence adviser at the Indian high commission in Canberra from 2005 to 2008, I was initially impressed by the single Department of …
Last week, the Chinese government demonstrated its continued mastery of multi-layered messaging. Nary a news media outlet in the world failed to cover the show-stopping, muscle-flexing military parade held in Beijing to celebrate the 70th …
The Royal Australian Navy has neglected long-range naval surface-warfare capability for too long. Its new Hobart-class air warfare destroyers represent Australia’s most advanced naval combatant introduced into operational service, but their main anti-ship and land-attack …
I argued in parts 1 and 2 that ultimately it doesn’t really matter how many F-35s and aerial refuelling tankers Australia buys; there are hard limits on how far we can project and sustain airpower …
The beat French police failed to recognise staffer’s radicalisation An internal report by France’s anti-terrorist investigators has revealed that colleagues of a police IT worker who killed four people at the Paris police headquarters last …
Seoul and Tokyo aren’t getting on well. What started as quarrels over whether Japan has shown appropriate contrition for its wartime occupation of Korea has mushroomed into a fierce trade dispute and a suspension of …
The top priority for the new Ukrainian government of Volodymyr Zelensky should be to establish the ‘rule of law’, according to the International Monetary Fund. The fund’s survey team visiting Ukraine last month said the …
Last Friday, after a long hiatus, US and North Korean officials resumed their negotiations on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Later that same day, the North Koreans walked out, citing the Americans’ ‘outdated viewpoint and …
Alex Bellamy is one of Australia’s leading authorities on security issues, especially the possible application of the ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine. By academic standards he’s also the very model of an engaged, highly influential public …
It is evident from Australia’s increasingly severe droughts and record-breaking heatwaves that time is running out to take action on climate change. Yet, despite persistent calls from eminent scientists to reduce global dependence on fossil …
The size of the Royal Australian Navy’s workforce must increase if the service is to maintain its rising operational tempo, says Vice Admiral Mike Noonan. ‘We’ve a navy heading towards 12 submarines, 12 surface combatants, …
The Royal Australian Navy is strongly focused on building relationships with allies and gaining experience in an increasingly complex and uncertain Indo-Pacific region, says its commander, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan. ‘The geopolitical climate that we …
Sea state Naval Group has contracted Schneider Electric France to provide the main DC switchboards for the Royal Australian Navy’s Attack-class submarines. The switchboards will distribute power from the submarine’s batteries and diesel generators to …
