The rise of protectionism is very threatening in the world today. What’s your prognosis on this for the next few years? Do you think that we’re really in for a bad time with trade wars? …
The old joke that it’s easy to have an open mind if you’ve got an empty mind has a Canberra version. The rejigged jibe judges that it’s simpler to run an inquiry if the policy …
What are the biggest current issues in Australian foreign policy? The government’s foreign policy white paper laid out the key challenges: firstly, a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific and secondly, the work that we do …
The world The United States this week withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council. Vox provides a clear picture of the situation while CNN discusses reactions to the move. This CFR piece investigates how prospects …
In April this year, Australia hosted the inaugural ASEAN–Australia women, peace and security (WPS) dialogue, an initiative born out of the ASEAN–Australia special summit in March. Although Australia has been involved in regional peacekeeping operations …
Australia’s special forces have been in the news due to allegations ranging from poor culture to potential war crimes, including arbitrary executions. These allegations have led to a number of Defence-initiated reviews and investigations. Much …
Back in 2005, when I was the United States’ lead negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, I looked at the instructions I received for my first meeting, a Chinese-hosted banquet that …
The beat ‘911. Where’s your emergency?’ Apple wants to shorten the response times of emergency services. The iPhone’s next operating system will pinpoint the location of a 911 call, allowing the 6,300 emergency response centres …
Sovereignty is now the buzzword of defence industry policy, applied liberally to whatever project is under discussion. The idea has been further entrenched in the defence lexicon following publication of the long-awaited Defence Industrial Capability …
In April 2016, in Basilan, Islamic militants gathered to mount an attack on the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The attack they launched killed 18 soldiers and injured more than 50 others. The small island …
Late last week a US drone killed Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban—known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. This is a serious body blow to the TTP, which had …
With Australia’s 2017–18 natural disaster season over, it’s timely to acknowledge the superlative capabilities of our emergency service agencies, planners and support staff, whether working full-time or volunteering, who were on-call during the season. …
In May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, the long-term mayor of Davao City, won a resounding victory in the Philippines national presidential election. He has since set in train a highly populist agenda that has seen internal …
Once again we’re embarked on an endeavour to defuse the Korean peninsula as the perennial flashpoint in Asia. We’ve been here before—notably during the 2003–05 six-party talks—so we know most of the important bits of …
The China relationship is both a complex and crucial one. Politically and culturally, China and Australia are very different countries, and in such complex relationships, differences of approach, objective and opinion will inevitably arise. …
Sea state Australia is set to enhance its submarine capability through sonar upgrades to all six Collins-class boats. The $230 million contract with Thales is part of a bigger $542 million project to upgrade the …
It is frequently said that we are experiencing an information revolution. But what does that mean, and where is the revolution taking us? Information revolutions are not new. In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press launched …
As Defence embarks on a series of massive and complex building programs, the department’s secretary, Greg Moriarty, has warned that it needs to become more effective at managing projects. ‘A lot of very good work …
US President Donald Trump returned from his short summit meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an exultant mood. ‘Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office’, Trump …
The news that China has deployed bombers and cruise missiles to contested reefs and islands in the South China Sea has caused significant concern. The move allows Beijing to target ships in disputed waters with …