Covid-19 has not deterred regional actors and major powers from maintaining, and in some cases enhancing, their geostrategic competitions in many hotspots around the globe. An emerging flashpoint is that between two old rivals, Turkey …
Australia’s 2020 cybersecurity strategy says the government will publicly call out, when it is in the nation’s interests to do so, countries responsible for unacceptable intrusions or activity. It’s appropriate for the world’s 13th largest …
Things are not going Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s way. Since the fraudulent presidential election on 9 August, the security services have been trying to carry out Lukashenko’s order to end the peaceful protests against his …
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ended the prospects of Japan’s Kirin group selling its $600 million Australian Lion Dairy and Drinks business to Chinese dairy firm Mengniu when he gave his preliminary view that the sale ‘would be …
Northern Australia can expect to see more visits from US forces, which will create both economic and strategic benefits for Australia. Two recent US government decisions are set to change how the US military, and …
Sea state The 2020 iteration of the biennial Exercise Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, has just concluded. Ten nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and the US) …
We are all grappling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it could not have come at a worse time for people already made extremely vulnerable by warfare. In places such as Afghanistan, Libya, …
Norwegian salmon, South Korean celebrities, Canadian pork and, most recently, Australian wine—the Chinese Communist Party’s coercive diplomacy over the past few years has spanned commodities and continents. However, countries’ responses have remained largely short-sighted and …
The 2019 movie Ad Astra had a US military base on the moon and a memorable battle scene involving a moon rover, implying that by late this century the moon will be heavily militarised. A …
Brexit is simultaneously reshaping the United Kingdom’s constitutional order and transforming its place in Europe and the world. It is a monumental project which, despite Britain’s formal departure from the European Union at the end …
Shinzo Abe’s sudden resignation on health grounds ends the tenure of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. The country’s most internationally recognised statesman since 1945, Abe has been, among other things, the world leader most keen on …
The switch from creating a ‘Son of Collins’ to making a ‘son of Collins’ is a conundrum of Australia’s submarine saga. The Defence Department abandoned the option of building a second generation of the Collins-class …
In this episode, Alex Joske and Danielle Cave of ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre speak about Alex’s report, Hunting the Phoenix: The Chinese Communist Party’s global search for technology and talent, which examines China’s global …
Welcome to the second instalment of ‘China military watch’, a new monthly feature discussing recent trends in Chinese military affairs. This week, Charlie Lyons Jones and Malcolm Davis look at the People’s Liberation Army’s perception …
The tough stance taken by Papua New Guinea’s police commissioner on the 48 Chinese workers destined for the Chinese-run Ramu Nickel mine in PNG’s Madang Province gives an opportunity for the Chinese government to explain …
Apprehensions about the social networking platform TikTok fuelled by media headlines have included suggestions that there are risks associated with content shared by Australian Defence Force personnel. While the Department of Defence hasn’t made a …
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s proposed foreign relations bill is all about closing the seams in our federation and giving practical effect to the Commonwealth’s constitutional power on foreign relations. It’s necessary primarily because other countries …
It is a strange time when the Australian government must strengthen its powers to stop state, territory and local council governments and universities from undermining the national interest. Step by step the Morrison government is …
Taiwan’s president has signalled that China’s imposition of tough new national security laws on Hong Kong is one of the most serious challenges facing her people. In an address to ASPI’s Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue, President …
Several months ago, US Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said he believed the service was ‘at a turning point’ in its history. The navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan—projecting what it will look like and what vessels it …