The Chinese Communist Party is launching increasingly bold and sophisticated information operations in an attempt to shape international perceptions of its treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. A new report from the ASPI …
Just before midnight on 7 December 1941, Flying Officer Peter Gibbes stepped off the train at Kota Bharu on the coast of northeast Malaya after a long, tiring journey up the peninsula from Singapore. Gibbes, …
Some months ago, Chinese authorities approached some of the biggest foreign companies in the country and asked them to tap a representative to participate in a small closed-door gathering on China’s new economic strategy. The …
This post is an edited extract from ASPI’s Counterterrorism yearbook 2021. A full PDF of the yearbook, which includes notes and sources for each chapter, is available on ASPI’s website. The risk of terrorism, like the risk of …
At a time of increasing strategic tension in the Indo-Pacific, the United States sees the Royal Australian Air Force as an extremely capable partner in the region. Interviewed by The Strategist, the commander of the …
Sea state Three Russian nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines emerged within 300 metres of each other through polar ice and snow during major Arctic exercise Umka-2021 (see video). One fired a torpedo under the ice, while …
A satellite in polar orbit providing services to Australians flies over almost every country in the world, every day. No other technology offers the level of global connectivity that advanced space applications provide. As we’ve …
This post is an edited excerpt from ASPI’s Counterterrorism yearbook 2021, released today. A full PDF of the yearbook, which includes notes and sources for each chapter, is available for free download from ASPI’s website. Online memes have …
It would be difficult for Australia to disentangle itself from the supply lines that connect the Xinjiang cotton fields to its retail clothing industry. Almost two-thirds of the clothing sold in Australian stores is manufactured …
The Royal New Zealand Navy recently launched its own journal, which aims to build the service’s professionalism and ‘engage and exchange views with all those who have an interest in naval and maritime affairs’. The most …
In the modern economy, all companies are software organisations, whether they realise it or not. So too Australia’s federal government. But how the government works, how it accounts for money and allocates funds, have not …
The 2014 rap song ‘Move that dope’, by Future, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T and Casino, talks about the push to sell drugs, including crack cocaine, and enjoy the spoils of the trade. Its underlying message …
The signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the oil-rich and regionally influential, but US sanctioned, Islamic Republic of Iran and the globally powerful, but US pressured, People’s Republic of China inserts a new strategic …
A member of the PNG parliament died from Covid-19 last week, but it still wasn’t enough to convince many Papua New Guineans that the virus is real and is probably out of control in their …
In this episode, The Strategist’s Brendan Nicholson speaks to Charles Parton of the Royal United Services Institute for an overview of how the Chinese Communist Party operates, what China wants from Australia and the UK, …
‘Global strategic focus has shifted to the Indo-Pacific. How the region handles the next few years will determine if it becomes the cradle of crises or solutions.’ — Cleo Paskal, Indo-Pacific strategies, perceptions and partnerships, …
With the development of hypersonic missiles—and ultimately aircraft—flying at several times the speed of sound, space-based systems, armed drones and uncrewed combat aircraft, the Royal Australian Air Force is fundamentally changing as it turns 100. …
China’s annual national political gatherings, known as the two sessions (‘lianghui’ (两会)), held earlier this month in Beijing, have drawn attention across the international community, in part due to China’s growing military and technological power. …
Last week’s testy US–China dialogue in Alaska augurs poorly for bilateral relations. And the mounting rivalry between the two countries clearly indicates that the emerging world of multiple power centres could presage an era of …
Southeast Asia is a region of crucial strategic importance to China. The Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea are choke points for much of its international trade. The mainland states of Southeast Asia …