The world There were just a few major events causing hiccups around the world this week. To kick off, we saw major developments in the India–Pakistan confrontation. The New York Times has a great backgrounder …
Columnist Robert Gottliebsen’s frequent articles about the supposed deficiencies of our future combat aircraft and submarines and the implication that this has for our position in the region are often wildly inaccurate. Take the proposition …
A recent article in Nature concludes that the climate is changing faster than previously realised, placing the aspirational Paris Agreement limit of 1.5°C of warming at risk of being surpassed in a little over a …
This essay is from ASPI’s election special, Agenda for change 2019: Strategic choices for the next government. The report contains 30 short essays by leading thinkers covering key strategic, defence and security challenges, and offers short- and …
Australia used to be a net exporter of oil but today, we’re at the other end of the international fuel supply chain and this puts us at the mercy of events. We live in volatile …
The suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir, two weeks ago killed 44 soldiers and spurred a series of events that threatens to spiral into a full-blown conflict between India and Pakistan. In …
The beat Police criticised over response to minors who join terror groups The case of ‘Islamic State bride’ Shamima Begum has raised interesting questions about the role and purpose of police in cases where minors …
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments in early January on reunification with Taiwan, which he categorised as unavoidable, certainly prompted vigorous discussion. Much of it has focused on the value of the strategic ambiguity surrounding the …
The recent revisiting on The Strategist of the arguments around taking the F-35 to sea cast my mind back to the bitter carrier debate of the 1970s and early 1980s. The current discussion certainly doesn’t …
In pre-dawn darkness on Tuesday, 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets of the Indian Air Force, armed with Israeli precision guided munitions, took off from the Gwalior airbase in central India and hit the largest training …
Facebook and Google disclosed last month that they would be making changes to the ways users can interact with, monitor and block advertisements. An independent programmer pointed out that the proposed changes to Google’s Chrome …
This essay is from ASPI’s just-released election special, Agenda for change 2019: Strategic choices for the next government. The report contains 30 short essays by leading thinkers covering key strategic, defence and security challenges, and offers short- …
Two Americas were represented by two different vice presidents at the Munich Security Conference this year. Between them, former Vice President Joseph Biden certainly received the warmer reception, but Vice President Mike Pence may have …
Super-fast machine processing will increase the speed of modern warfare, but skilled men and women will remain the crucial decision-makers, say Australia’s air force commanders. RAAF chief Air Marshal Leo Davies and deputy chief Air …
Our coal exports to China sneezed last week, but the market and media reactions to the sniffle were as if the gravy train that is our $15 billion coal trade with China had come down …
I find myself in avid agreement with American strategic analyst Kori Schake, who comments that, since the end of the Cold War, complacency in the West has led to ‘flabby’ strategic thinking. She writes of …
Sea state The nuclear-attack submarine USS Santa Fe sailed with four of Australia’s Collins-class submarines during Exercise Ocean Explorer last week. This is the third year for the training exercise, which is held in the …
This essay is from ASPI’s election special, Agenda for change 2019: Strategic choices for the next government, released today. The report contains 30 short essays by leading thinkers covering key strategic, defence and security challenges, …
In past conflicts, many hours, days or weeks were spent gathering and analysing intelligence before an attack was launched on an enemy. Advances in science and technology have brought that time down to minutes, and …
In the lead-up to each federal election, ASPI releases its Agenda for change: Strategic choices for the next government to help shape election platforms and public debate. This year the report contains 30 short essays …