In early March, President Donald Trump caused a furore when he revoked a requirement for the US intelligence community to report on civilian casualties in airstrikes outside war zones. The decision is the latest in …
China’s influence in the Pacific creates a paradox for the formation of US policy towards Pacific island nations. If Washington focuses only on China’s involvement in the Pacific, it risks alienating the islands. Yet without …
Australia’s new South Pacific policy is set in place, no matter which side wins the election on 18 May. Labor and the Coalition entered the election with a unity ticket on Papua New Guinea, the …
The world It’s the end of an era in Japan—literally. This week, the 30-year Heisei Era came to an end with the abdication of Emperor Akihito, and the Reiwa Era began with his son Naruhito’s …
Australia faces a rapidly changing—and worsening—defence and security outlook that is increasingly at odds with the policy assumptions that underpinned the formulation of the 2016 defence white paper. That reality demands a rethink of our …
Following the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, a group of young Polish activists and artists donned T-shirts that read: ‘I did not cry for the Pope’. At a time of seemingly obligatory …
The second Belt and Road Forum, hosted by China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week, attracted 37 world leaders and delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organisations. There were also some conspicuous absences, …
The Second Belt and Road Forum, which ran from 25 to 27 April in Beijing, showcased China’s progress with its Belt and Road Initiative and also demonstrated the country’s increasing global economic and political influence. …
The beat Sri Lanka’s police chief suspended Sri Lanka’s police chief has been suspended in the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. Pujith Jayasundara had refused to stand down voluntarily despite reports that information …
Volodymyr Zelensky defeated Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine’s presidential election in a landslide victory with more than 73% of the votes, but not everyone is happy. Zelensky was already well known for playing a fictional incorruptible …
The director of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Nelson, wants to extend the memorial at a cost of $498 million. The case he outlined in a recent ‘Strategist Six’ is as full of holes as a …
Recent India–Pakistan border skirmishes have brought the dispute over Kashmir to the world’s attention once again. While the latest crisis has abated for now, the issue still festers and is likely to lead to more …
States in the Pacific islands are small in landmass and population. Their limited terrestrial resources and lack of comparative advantage are compounded by their remoteness from global centres of commerce. This obviously has impacts on …
On the morning of 4 October 2018, US Vice President Mike Pence was invited on to the stage at the Hudson Institute to deliver what many assumed would be a typical forward-leaning speech on China. …
Yesterday from the election campaign trail in Western Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison made some naval shipbuilding announcements relating to the Royal Australian Navy’s mine-clearing and hydrographic capabilities. Speaking from the Henderson shipyard south of …
Sea state China’s defence ministry said on Thursday that France ‘illegally enter[ed] Chinese waters’ after the Chinese navy warned a French warship to leave the Taiwan Strait earlier this month. China has lodged an official …
Together with 24 other states, Australia will serve on the new UN Group of Governmental Experts (UN GGE) on ‘developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security’. Following the …
Just why the concept of soft power has become such an accepted explanation for the spread of Chinese influence in the Pacific islands is something of a conundrum. (The term ‘Pacific islands’ is used here …
The 2016 defence white paper and the decades-long integrated investment program will deliver a future force that includes 72 joint strike fighters, several hundred infantry fighting vehicles, nine new frigates and 12 new submarines. F-35 …
The United Nations can sometimes be a figure of fun for its breathless commitment to the dullest of minutia, but spare a thought for the members of the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) …