A year ago, following US President Joe Biden’s election, multilateralism once again became the beating heart of global climate action. G20 leaders agreed to more ambitious near-term climate targets en route to achieving net-zero emissions …
I write this article from Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan. Instead of stiffly sitting at my ergonomic desk, I’m reclined in a camel-skin tent. My phone lies forgotten in my backpack (there’s no reception here). I …
To maximise global influence, countries need to be sophisticated in deploying diplomatic efforts that project who they are in the world, both with existing partners and in the search for new ones. This point seems …
This year witnessed another milestone in the Australia–Japan ‘special strategic partnership’ as prime ministers Anthony Albanese and Fumio Kishida met in Perth on 22 October to issue a new joint declaration on security cooperation. This …
In this episode, ASPI’s Fergus Hanson speaks to Richard Rossow, a senior adviser and Wadhwani Chair in US–India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the trajectory of the US–India relationship …
To examine how Australia goes to war, parliament must examine itself. How much can parliament touch the war prerogative of the prime minister and cabinet? What say should parliament have, if any, in the most …
Nations meeting to advance action on climate change at COP27 in Egypt know we’re headed for dangerous climate impacts. The UN Environment Programme confirmed in its 2022 emissions gap report that there is no longer …
Planet A More than 113 million Africans will be displaced by 2050 due to the effects of climate change, according to a report released by the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative, a joint UN group assisted …
Midterm elections take place in the United States every four years, halfway into a president’s term and two years before the next presidential election. At stake is one-third of the Senate, the entire House of …
The recent release of the US national defence strategy identifying China as the ‘pacing challenge’ and most consequential strategic competitor for decades to come further reinforces the need for thinking that clearly articulates Australia’s strategic …
Last week the naval war in Ukraine came back to international attention. In a theatre that first defined by the Russian assault against Snake Island in the early stages of the invasion and then by …
The AUKUS agreement demonstrates how the deteriorating strategic environment is changing the nature of alliances among like-minded countries. Options that only a few years ago seemed like distant fantasy—such as the sharing of nuclear submarine …
The Chinese government’s online censorship regime isn’t new. It succeeded in ‘nail[ing] jello to a wall’, to use the words of former US president Bill Clinton, when the world thought the Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t …
Nuclear weapons are serious capabilities, and declaratory policies are serious commitments. So readers who have followed the US government’s nuclear posture product line since President Bill Clinton’s first review in 1994 have learned to expect …
The new leadership team selected by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party failed to impress financial markets at home and abroad. In the week following the announcement …
Modern society proceeds on the basis that complex systems—human-made and natural—work reliably, both individually and in interaction with one another. However, the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme …
In the first part of this series, I discussed the high rates of ammunition expenditure in the war in Ukraine and emphasised that this is a question not just of expensive missiles but also of …
The past decade of work proving up Australia’s deposits of rare-earth minerals is beginning to pay off, with a number of firms getting close to production. But the supply chains for rare earths still run …
The Albanese government’s first budget since its election win in May was not designed to focus on Australia’s security situation or defence spending. Tasked with sharing Australia’s difficult economic situation with the Australian public, the …
The election of a Labor government in May brought an expectation that Australia would do more in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. But what will that look like and what new approaches should the government …