The phrase ‘great and powerful friend’ is a totem of Australian defence, setting strategy since federation. The totem’s purpose is to make and manage The Alliance—capitalise and underline it as crucial and central. The search …
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week, has now advanced more than US$330 billion, which is about 80% of the lending of the World Bank over that period. The …
The 2024 independent review of Australia’s national intelligence community has kicked off. It will focus on the 10 agencies that comprise the NIC and comes at a time of increasing complexity and uncertainty in Australia’s …
Australia’s foreign policy and place in the world have long been considered the domain of diplomats, defence officials and national-security decision-makers in Canberra. There are no departments of foreign affairs or defence, or intelligence agencies, …
In a dramatic display of collective frustration, the streets of Baghdad recently became a theatre of dissent as around 300 Iraqis took to Nisour Square to protest acute water shortages. The demonstrations were held on …
To make cyberspace more defensible—a goal championed by Columbia University and called for in the 2023 US National Cybersecurity Strategy—innovations must not just strengthen defences, but give a sustained advantage to defenders relative to attackers. …
Independent states in the Pacific region have the lowest levels of women’s political representation in the world. Fewer than 7% of Pacific politicians are women, compared with 27% globally. The absence of women’s voices in political …
Australia’s new cybersecurity strategy is all but released. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and National Cyber Security Coordinator Darren Goldie have familiarised the government and industry with the strategy’s six ‘cyber shields’ and timeline of …
The Israel–Hamas war is a bitter reminder of the al-Qaeda attacks on the US on 11 September 2001, and America’s response to them. One of the effects of those events was that it strained relations …
With a focus on the defence strategic review and AUKUS, the Australian government is increasingly concerned about how it can mobilise private capital to acquire the capabilities and technologies necessary to respond to shifting security …
Israel’s intention in ordering the evacuation of civilians from Gaza City is to create a free-fire zone where anyone who remains can be assumed to be a member of Hamas. The next phase of its …
The extraordinary victory of the democratic opposition in Poland’s election raises the spectre of a looming constitutional crisis. Like Donald Trump in the United States or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, the right-wing populist Law and …
In August, Washington and Manila announced their intention to begin conducting joint maritime patrols before the end of the year around the West Philippine Sea—the Philippines’ official name for the parts of the South China …
Honiara’s hosting of the Pacific Games is fast approaching. As the November event draws closer, there’s heightened concern—both in Solomon Islands and abroad—about how the games might affect the city’s security. Australian assistance will be …
As any army officer will tell you, it’s very hard to achieve a destroy mission. Yet that is what, publicly at least, Israeli leaders have tasked the Israel Defense Forces to do. Prime Minister Benjamin …
You didn’t read about it in the Australian media, but back in August the directors-general of the Office of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer, and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Kerri Hartland, met Timor-Leste Prime Minister …
The shocking terrorist attack by Hamas in southern Israel requires a swift response as well as some introspection from the Israeli government, which now has the opportunity to show the transparent and targeted resolve of …
Hamas’s brazen and vicious attacks within Israel have rightly drawn condemnation from around the world. If this is a war, as both sides agree it is, then Hamas’s deliberate targeting of civilians counts as a …
Thai politics were in a muddled state prior to 22 August 2023. Following the general election in May, there was much speculation about who would become the next prime minister and how the old establishments …
Queensland’s Kenilworth war memorial seems unremarkable to the average passerby. If you blink, you’ll miss it, and even if you don’t blink, you might still miss it. But a keener observer would notice that there …