Oriana Skylar Mastro’s recently published book, The costs of conversation: obstacles to peace talks in wartime, is a tight, densely written piece of prose. Mastro is an assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown University …
The Hong Kong protests have Xi Jinping in a bind. For all the talk of China’s power and the power of the president-for-life within China, he has faced no good choices in the Hong Kong …
As Luke Skywalker switched off his computer in the final moments before targeting the thermal exhaust port on the Death Star, we marvelled at the power of the Force and the skill of young Skywalker. …
Sea state Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a new maritime security agreement with Timor-Leste, which includes a deal for Australia to fund a new wharf at the Hera naval base and provide two Guardian-class …
The Indian government’s recent decision to revoke Kashmir’s special semi-autonomous status has raised fears of yet another conflict with Pakistan over the disputed territory. But in order to understand the implications of the events unfolding …
Diplomatic relations may have been strained, but Australia’s trade relationship with China is growing ever closer. The latest trade report shows that China was the destination for a record 40% of Australia’s exports in June. …
After 13 straight weekends of unrelenting protests and an increasingly harsh police response, Hong Kong’s worst political crisis since its reversion to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 appears to have become an intractable stalemate with no …
Before last month’s G7 summit in Biarritz, France, it was a toss-up whether the greater disruption would come from US President Donald Trump or British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Yet the attendee who had the …
In a speech in late 2001, Colin Powell stunned humanitarian actors around the world by describing NGOs as a ‘force multiplier’ for the US diplomatic and defence efforts around the globe and ‘an important part …
‘Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.’ — Saint Augustine of Hippo Pondering nuclear weapons, Hugh White offers Australia a reverse Augustine: Give me nuclear chastity, until there’s no alternative. The White version of …
In view of Derek Woolner’s warning last month that the Royal Australian Navy’s new Attack-class submarines will be obsolescent by the time they’re delivered, it’s time to revisit the main storage battery question—including what we’re …
The world UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has prorogued parliament for five weeks beginning on 10 September in a bid that appears to be aimed at giving MPs less time to debate Brexit, a move …
With elections due in early January 2020, Taiwan’s presidential race is heating up. Besides the candidates from the two major parties, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), there’s an outsider who is …
It’s been 12 months since former major general and senator Jim Molan locked horns with ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer in the Strategist over armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). Both put some great arguments forward, and the matter …
Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned in March after nearly 30 years in power, was a great admirer of the Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew. For Nazarbayev, Lee’s leadership showed the importance of strengthening …
On 24 August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau announced, ‘I repeat: Iran has no immunity, anywhere … I have given the instruction to prepare for any scenario. We will continue to act against Iran and …
The United States is facing a serious crisis of strategic insolvency in which the ends of its expansive strategy for building the liberal order outstrip the budgetary and military means at Washington’s disposal. Without hard …
The beat Police arrest squatters in Athens Police officers in Athens have raided the Exarchia district, known as an anarchist enclave, and arrested around 100 people for squatting. The area had been targeted by police …
Since its inception in 2013, Operation Sovereign Borders has reduced the number of irregular migrants dying at sea and stemmed the flow of people-smuggling ventures to Australia. Unfortunately, this success has come at great cost …
Despite China’s efforts to limit scrutiny of its persecution of its Uyghur Muslim minority, the growing body of credible, publicly available evidence on the scope and scale of Beijing’s Uyghur ‘re-education program’ has effectively exposed …