Beijing is declaring success in its control of Covid-19. It’s a funny kind of success, though, because on closer examination it looks more like what Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and New Zealand are doing now. …
Plagues bring out the best and worst in pharaohs, as they do in party secretaries, presidents, and directors of the World Health Organization. There’s nothing like a high-pressure crisis to test a leader’s mettle. In …
As nations around the world struggle to deal with Covid-19, some of the most effective responses may be found in the least expected corners. Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, says that an effective response to …
The beat Fears marginalised groups being targeted by police Concerns have been raised in Australia that culturally diverse and low socioeconomic groups will be disproportionately targeted by police enforcing the social distancing regulations imposed to …
The global spread of Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of having a health security strategy that extends way outside of Australia. The Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade …
This post was adapted by the author from his chapter in ASPI’s Counterterrorism yearbook 2020. The full text of the yearbook, which includes notes and sources for each chapter, is available on ASPI’s website. The threat of terrorism …
Australia’s political leaders have spoken strongly about assisting our Pacific ‘family’ through the Covid-19 crisis. But the needs of the island nations go far beyond medical supplies and expertise. The Royal Australian Navy could play …
In mid-2018, the Chinese navy conducted one of the largest mine warfare exercises in living memory, involving some 60 minelayers and minesweepers, aircraft and submarines practising laying and countering live mines. This unprecedented exercise, supported …
French counterterrorism police are investigating a stabbing attack in southeast France in which two people were killed and five injured. The attack was a reminder that while the media focus is mainly on Covid-19, terrorism …
As the Covid-19 crisis plays out across the world, a disturbing new form of denialism is emerging which seeks to sow doubt not just about the seriousness of the pandemic or the response to it, …
The US is in its worst crisis since World War II. With more than 582,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, it is the current global epicentre of the pandemic. More than 23,000 Americans have died from …
The world that emerges from the coronavirus pandemic may be a warring collection of countries that are more closed off and nationalistic than before. But without rapid and effective global cooperation, the world may not …
The Chinese Communist Party is notorious for obscuring how it runs the government of the People’s Republic of China. Its defence budget is particularly murky, earning a measly 1.5 (on a 12-point scale) from Transparency …
‘God and the people are the source of all power … I have taken it, and damn it, I will keep it forever’, declared Haiti’s François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier in 1963. And so he did, …
Southeast Asia is a wondrous experiment in comparative politics. Perhaps a galactic professor peers down, testing a spectrum of political systems, from the Malay Muslim monarchy of Brunei to the world’s largest Muslim democracy in …
The Strategist is taking a couple of days off from publishing duties over the Easter break. We wish you a safe and happy long weekend and hope you can make the most of it while …
In this episode, ASPI’s Genevieve Feely speaks to Susan Harris Rimmer of Griffith University about the Afghanistan peace process and why it’s so important that women are represented and their rights protected in the country. …
Lots of commentary—in fact, most—right now about America in the world is simplistic, binary and trapped in the moment. Not that the US isn’t in crisis right now. It is. Like the rest of us, …
There’s a war of narratives being fought between China and much of the rest of the world about how the Covid-19 pandemic began and who’s responsible. Beijing has embarked on a misinformation campaign to try …
The beat Cyber criminals target hospitals Interpol has issued a purple notice after seeing a significant increase in ransomware attacks against hospitals and other healthcare services during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ransomware has been spread …