US resists UN Security Council resolution on sexual violence in conflict The US has successfully used the threat of its veto power to demand significant changes to UN Security Council resolution 2467 on conflict-related sexual …
Australia’s new space agency is now up and running and hopes are high for a sovereign launch capability. But not all space launches are equal. The launch parameters for putting a 600-kilogram satellite into geostationary …
Election campaigns involve loud argument and quiet consensus—and then there are the silences. Silences point to hard stuff just offstage: no-go, too dangerous. For political parties, breaking the silence introduces complexity that tends towards tangled …
More than a month after Thailand held its first national elections in seven years, official results have been released by the country’s Election Commission, an inherently flawed political institution which has had a key role …
The world The latest UN climate change report contains some distressing facts and figures. See the media release here which provides the main points. Vox dives in on the most worrying conclusion of the report—that …
In a recent Strategist article, Dr Paul Barnes raised the issue of water management and water scarcity in the Top End. He argued that access to water as an essential service may be underrated in …
Iran and the US are engaged in a strategic race with opposing objectives, but a common deadline—the US presidential election in November 2020. For Iran, it’s a race for survival of the regime, to ensure …
Boeing’s ‘loyal wingman’ unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) is a fine example of Australian industry and defence cooperation, and its promoted ability to project power and keep manned platforms out of harm’s way is seductive. …
The beat San Francisco to ban facial recognition technology San Francisco is planning to ban the use of facial recognition technology by the city government and police. There will also be a requirement for the …
There is no agreed definition of hybrid warfare. We’re essentially talking about warfare across more than one dimension—including across our political, economic and civil spheres—which is sometimes integrated with traditional warfare, and ultimately blurs distinctions …
Humanity is on the cusp of a new age in space, with the rapid development of technology including much cheaper, and reusable, launch vehicles and smaller, more versatile satellites. The ‘Space 2.0’ approach brings transformational …
In an article about the meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi in February, I shared the sentiment that Trump needed to allow his administration to prepare more …
Nuclear deterrence rests on the ability of strategic assets to survive an enemy’s first strike and to retaliate, ensuring mutually assured destruction. Nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) are considered to be the most survivable of all …
US President Donald Trump’s administration has shown little interest in public diplomacy. And yet this form of diplomacy—a government’s efforts to communicate directly with other countries’ publics—is one of the key instruments policymakers use to …
Amid the latest volley of rocket fire in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces launched an airstrike on a building allegedly used by Hamas to conduct cyber operations. The strike occurred shortly after Hamas attempted to …
The danger of a nuclear war, with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it, may be higher today than it was during the Cold War. The world got a sharp reminder of the threat …
Sea state The Indian and French navies have begun the 17th iteration of their annual bilateral naval war exercise off Goa. Varuna 19.1/19.2 features two aircraft carriers, FNS Charles de Gaulle and INS Vikramaditya, plus …
Thailand is already almost halfway through its ASEAN chairmanship in what has been a rather low-profile period considering political developments. In the lead-up to Thailand’s elections on 24 March, the country’s political energy was directed inwards. …
Whoever becomes prime minister after the election will face a sobering moment in Australia’s China policy. It will show starkly why the policy that has had bipartisan support since Australia’s diplomatic opening to China in …
In this episode, Brendan Nicholson talks cybersecurity with the former chief of both the US National Security Agency and Cyber Command, and now distinguished visiting fellow with ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre, Admiral Mike Rogers. …