Australia’s plan for sustaining its armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) far from their basing is the equivalent of Ukraine sending its tanks to Paris for repair and overhaul. This is illogical and unacceptable. As part of …
Governments, universities and individual academics should urgently revisit export-control compliance in academia. Western governments are tightening export controls to safeguard military and industrial advantages amid rising geostrategic uncertainty. Western universities are thus increasingly forced to reconcile …
India and Australia need to start cooperating in detecting, monitoring and understanding what’s going on underwater. As submarines, especially small, uncrewed ones, proliferate in the Indian Ocean and adjacent waters, neither country should regard itself …
A comprehensive defence treaty between Japan and Australia is overdue. The 50th anniversary of the two countries’ Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, to be marked this year, should provide the occasion for signing an …
Meetings between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) are now routine, no longer tentative or discreet but frequent and increasingly public. From 7 to 12 April 2026, KMT chair Cheng Li-wun is …
When Australians think about Taiwan, the focus is often narrow: a distant sovereignty dispute in the Taiwan Strait, or a potential flashpoint between China and the United States. This framing understates the scale of what …
Australia and its partners need to monitor the developments in China’s engagement with Timor-Leste carefully. Canberra should also, ideally, implement proactive initiatives to strengthen its own relationship with Dili. Given Chinese interest in controlling choke …
Japan is going full steam in expanding its military use of uncrewed autonomous platforms and countering China’s. One policy has got this effort underway, and three more due this year will give a better idea …
Rising geopolitical uncertainty and complexity demand new approaches to strategic planning, risk management and scenario planning. Traditional methods are becoming less useful for government agencies, organisations and businesses as trends become less reliable indicators of disruptive …
Commentators often inaccurately describe the frameworks governing US military presence in Australia. Debate frequently centres on sovereignty, with claims that deeper US access or infrastructure investment risks eroding Australian control. That framing overlooks the structured …
The war in Iran has just entered its second month. Supreme leader Ali Khamenei is dead, global fuel trade has stalled and the United States’ relationship with its allies is at a low. In this …
Just reports of mines are often sufficient to disrupt maritime traffic. Even if ship owners, crews and insurers weren’t aware of the missile threat in the Strait of Hormuz, news reporting of sea mines in …
Australians are watching fuel prices and wondering how bad this could get. Donald Trump’s comments on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday delivered a blunt message: Don’t assume the United States will carry …
For centuries, the Arctic was considered the exclusive domain of polar bears, exotic marine life and the occasional intrepid explorer. However, as climate change has thawed the polar ice, it has also opened up new …
In Myanmar, the junta’s air campaign against civilian communities has become one of the most decisive tools sustaining its rule. Imported jet fuel is therefore a strategic lifeline for the junta, and investigations indicate that, …
Fuel crises expose a hard truth: systems fail when governments ration for comfort instead of economic capability. Australia faces that test as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz constrains global energy flows and highlights a …
Australia should restart domestic helium production. Government action will be needed for it to do so. Iranian strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas complex have knocked out roughly a third of the world’s helium supply. …
Australians feeling the sting of high fuel prices at the bowser or seeing supplies struggle to reach regional communities are being reminded just how dependent Australia is on the arrival of supplies by sea. That dependence sits …
Is it possible at this juncture of the Iran war to extrapolate out the domestic political consequences for the United States, particularly for President Donald Trump? Let’s look at two possibilities. The first is a …
Australia needs to revisit its defence industrial base strategy. The country’s military industry should be reshaped to offer serious value to the United States and in doing so improve Australia’s own self-reliance. It now offers …