The US has received plenty of criticism for acceding to Iran’s policy of hostage-led negotiation for which Tehran has plenty of form. But there are a number of very knowledgeable Middle East hands in President …
Sea state The Australian government has inked a $1.5 billion deal to acquire a fourth MQ-4C Triton drone and upgrade its fleet of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. A maintenance workforce will be established at …
European economic policymakers have had a packed schedule lately. First, the European Central Bank’s governing council gathered to deliberate on what would become its 10th consecutive interest-rate hike. Then, the European Union’s Economic and Financial …
Spoiler alert: This article references successful procurement changes and positively recognises the work of Australia’s defence ministers. It’s easy to criticise defence procurement initiatives, and the ministers who oversee them. From the Whitlam government’s frigate …
Recent strategic developments have led the Australian government to take several steps to reshape defence policy. The AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine venture is not just a massive long-term investment but, at last, the cornerstone of a …
Misinformation and disinformation have come to curse all national issues involving major political decisions. This was true of the Covid-19 pandemic with its mask mandates and lockdowns, and of recent elections. As we approach the …
Peace processes tend to be riddled with uncertainties, especially when conflicts are protracted and each side’s intentions, willingness and capacity to comply with any agreement remain unclear. The significant political costs associated with making concessions …
The case for Australia to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations rests on the challenges ASEAN confronts as much as the association’s strengths. Australia needs to take the next logical step in its long …
Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced that decisions on the surface combatant fleet review will not be made public until 2024. This analysis was an outcome of the defence strategic review, which recommended that the …
A front-page story in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2009 confidently predicted that within five years Myanmar would have its own nuclear weapon and be capable of producing one atom bomb every year thereafter, if …
The government has responded to calls to invigorate Australia’s defence innovation enterprise with a commitment to stand up a new program in the Department of Defence with funding of $3.4 billion over the next decade. …
In late June, in the aftermath of the failed Wagner Group rebellion, the Kremlin moved swiftly to censor social media and scrub the Russian internet of details of the attempted coup. The digital crackdown has …
There’s an old Soviet joke in which a journalist asks the general secretary of the Communist party to assess the country’s economy. ‘Good’ is the short answer. The journalist implores the leader to elaborate so …
On 12 September, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued a ‘Proposal on supporting Fujian Province in exploring a new path for the …
Russian President Vladimir Putin had obvious reasons for hosting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un at Vostochny, Russia’s new spaceport in eastern Siberia, this month. Owing to his illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, Putin is …
India and Australia have an interest in addressing subsurface challenges in their shared maritime domain. As they and other countries in the region grow their submarine fleets, there’s a critical need to develop underwater search …
Justin Trudeau’s announcement that Canadian authorities suspect India had some role in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia on 18 June was dramatic, but hardly …
Planet A Climate change is intensifying the massive bushfire sweeping across the Northern Territory’s Barkly region. The fire, which started last Friday and has torn through two million hectares, is one of many burning in …
Biotechnology is one of the world’s biggest industries with a global market share estimated at over US$1.37 trillion (A$2.1tn) in 2022. The massive investment driven by the Covid-19 pandemic has helped boost the market to …
China’s research in several advanced sensor technologies vital to military navigation and targeting is overwhelmingly ahead of the three AUKUS partners, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Even if the three team up with …