The world It’s well known that China is always on the lookout for opportunities to extend its reach. The New York Times went to Patagonia to investigate where Latin America sits on Beijing’s list of …
The recent collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam in Laos shows Southeast Asia’s vulnerability to natural disasters and highlights the importance of emergency preparedness, safety regulation, and sustainable development planning in energy security policies. It …
As the Defence Department prepares to spend $10–15 billion buying the modern equivalent of the armoured knight, in the shape of 450 infantry fighting vehicles, it risks committing the army’s future to a capability with …
Good policymaking, including strategic policymaking, requires a number of steps. There has to be an objective reason why the government should or shouldn’t act. The options then need to be identified and assessed for efficacy, …
In this podcast, we discuss the recent AUSMIN meeting and the state of the US alliance, ‘free speech panic’, judicial changes in Poland and the latest cyber news including the controversy surrounding the government’s My …
Anyone watching Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress in April following the Cambridge Analytica scandal would be forgiven for thinking US politicians shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near tech policy. The questions the mostly grey-haired representatives fielded …
The beat New US centre to promote safe drone use The Police Foundation in the US has established a Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Public Safety, to help law enforcement agencies make informed decisions …
When you order ham and eggs, you can be sure the pig is committed. The chook, well, it’s interested, but not like that pig. The same could be said about the Pacific region. Some nations …
In October 2016, before the US presidential election, I suggested that Australia was entering a foreign-policy crisis period—given the relative decline of American power in the Asian region, the likely withdrawal of the US from …
The People’s Liberation Army turned 91 today amid the Chinese media’s self-congratulatory cacophony. To be sure, China has a lot to be proud of—the PLA has become one of the most powerful militaries in the …
After Pakistan’s recent election, Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are now forming a new government. As usual, it will be greeted by an economic crisis. A trip, cap in hand, to the …
On 1 July, the Australian Space Agency, led by Dr Megan Clark AC, officially opened for business. In the May 2018 budget, the Australian government allocated $41 million over four years to fund the establishment …
For very good reasons, maritime security concerns, particularly those centred on the South China Sea, have featured prominently in ASEAN member states’ individual and collective agendas over the last decade. The 10 ASEAN nations face …
US President Donald Trump’s inability to think strategically is undermining longstanding relationships, upending the global order, and accelerating the decline of his country’s global influence—or so the increasingly popular wisdom goes. But this assessment is …
Sea state China has announced its intent to deepen military cooperation with Sri Lanka by giving it a frigate and continuing to train the Sri Lankan military. The announcement comes amid escalating competition between China …
The import and export of goods and services between the European Union and the United States forms the ‘largest bilateral trade and investment relationship’ on the planet. According to the European Commission, the US invests …
Much of the argument for building warships and submarines in Australia ultimately rests on the rather dubious logic that we’re on an island surrounded by water. But Australia is also surrounded by air, yet nobody …
The results of last week’s national and provincial elections in Pakistan came as a surprise to most analysts (including me). And while everyone expected that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), the incumbent governing party …
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s provocative speech on 22 July that attacked Iran’s leadership and policies, and prompted a brief but hostile exchange between President Hassan Rouhani and President Donald Trump about the threat …
Donald Trump’s presidency reminds me of nothing so much as the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. At the height of the violence, a Serb friend said to me, ‘I don’t like [Slobodan] Milošević. I …