In this episode, ASPI’s Malcolm Davis and Marcus Hellyer bring you an update on maritime and space issues, including discussion of Marcus’s report on the possibilities for Australia’s new offshore patrol vessels, SpaceX launches and …
Herewith a preliminary assessment of losers and winners from the global pandemic. The list is subject to change without notice. Losers The United States may turn out to be the biggest loser of all. Washington’s …
The beat UK backs Taiwan’s participation in Interpol The UK Foreign Office has expressed support for Taiwan participating in Interpol as an observer. Taiwan was replaced in the international policing organisation by the People’s Republic …
The involvement of young people in violent extremism isn’t a 21st-century phenomenon. The Nazi party in Germany founded the Hitler Youth organisations in the early 1920s to indoctrinate juveniles, and the Irish Republican Army discovered …
The looming strategic update to Australia’s 2016 defence white paper is an opportunity for creativity and practicality. It’s too easy to imagine the update describing what’s happened in the last four years and moving on …
No other weapon system embodies the menacing, but also out-of-sight, presence of nuclear weapons better than the stealthy nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) that have, for six decades, ceaselessly prowled the world’s cold ocean depths, …
As tensions on the border between India and China have once again lit up, so too has anti-Beijing sentiment among Indians. Calls to boycott Chinese products have precedents in India, and this time Hindu nationalists …
The world has spent the past 30 years trying to redefine ‘national security’ in ways that will allow nation-states to prepare for and tackle a wider range of threats to our existence and wellbeing. Alternatively, …
US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to reporters aboard Air Force One on the weekend that this year’s G7 meeting be expanded to include Russia, India, South Korea and Australia appears to be more than a …
Many local factors have contributed to the face-off between Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh. Western Ladakh borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan, where China has invested hugely its economic corridor project with Pakistan under …
Sea state Former admiral Kenneth Braithwaite has been confirmed as the US Navy’s top civilian official, six months after Richard Spencer was asked to step down from the role over his alleged mishandling of a …
The protests across America flowing from the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis have exposed continuing deep rifts over race and equality of treatment by the police. The anger, frustration and grief are …
Australia can acquire extra maritime capability quickly and affordably while promoting local industry and the government’s continuous naval shipbuilding plan. My new ASPI report, From concentrated vulnerability to distributed lethality—or how to get more maritime …
In Australia, as in many other countries today, two self-isolating clusters of influencers have emerged that seek to steer dealings with the People’s Republic of China. The two groups rarely intersect except to voice mutual …
For the best part of 50 years, NATO has maintained a standing force of mine countermeasure vessels at the ready to respond to a mining incident in the English Channel and approaches. The force originally …
Even before the outbreak of Covid-19, the level of global debt was high by historic standards. According to the Institute of International Finance, by late 2019 global debt (including private and public debt) was more …
For defence officials and diplomats, digital media, and specifically social media, have become an unavoidable aspect of their operations, communications and strategic international engagement. But the use of those media isn’t always understood or appreciated by …
In the first post in this series, I noted that, so far, the government remains committed to the 10-year defence funding line it presented in the 2016 defence white paper. That funding line is likely …
As China’s communist leaders prepare to impose a draconian new national security law on supposedly autonomous Hong Kong, officials in Beijing and locally are trying to assure the city’s anxious and angry residents that nothing …
The social isolation driven by the worldwide pandemic is providing opportunities to think, not just about Covid-19, how we got here or even why people hoarded toilet paper. While some have helped to put the …
