On 11 November, California and 22 other US states sued the US Environmental Protection Agency, requesting that a federal appeals court block the Trump administration’s revocation of a Clean Air Act waiver that has historically …
On a recent episode of ASPI’s Policy, Guns and Money podcast, analysts Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Davies debated the question of whether Australia needs an additional long-range strike capability. The issue had just been raised …
Shinzo Abe became Japan’s longest serving prime minister on 20 November. Staying atop a parliamentary democracy seems a herculean task these days, but it is especially hard in Japan, where prime ministers have tended to …
Journalism has always been a tough trade in the South Pacific. Living and working in island communities exposes editors and reporters to unusual political, personal and professional pressures. A statement warning about ‘growing threats to …
In this special episode, ASPI Executive Director Peter Jennings and Defence, Strategy and National Security Director Michael Shoebridge discuss the unprecedented leak of hundreds of pages of internal Chinese government documents. The trove of information …
The world Kicking us off in the US, the second impeachment hearing has dropped a bombshell on a key part of President Donald Trump’s defence. The US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, has …
Joko Widodo’s campaign to turn back the rising tide of Islamisation in Indonesia may become the dominant preoccupation of his second five-year term as president, overshadowing his far-reaching infrastructure program and perhaps even efforts to …
Dili is a mere 55-minute flight from Darwin. The proximity creates a natural partnership between northern Australia and Timor-Leste that brings benefits to both countries and contributes to greater regional economic integration, including with Indonesia. …
The collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago meant that its once-formidable presence in the Middle East collapsed as well. Today, however, as the United States has withdrawn from the region, Russia has rushed …
Petrol rationing and major fuel price hikes in Iran, and the rioting that followed, have demonstrated the extent to which international sanctions are hurting the oil-rich nation. Protests broke out in more than 50 cities …
The beat Italian police recover ancient treasure trove Officers from a unit of the Italian Carabinieri have arrested 23 people involved in trafficking stolen archaeological artefacts. With support from police in the UK, Germany, France …
Once again, the United States is undergoing the profound drama of presidential impeachment proceedings. But, unlike in the past, this time the implications for the rest of the world could be substantial. Consider the two …
There is something a little disconcerting about the work done jointly by the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in their report of the review of Australian …
The great irony of the Iranian intelligence reports obtained by The Intercept and published jointly with the New York Times is that they don’t necessarily expose Iran as the bad guy that Washington and others …
In a recent interview with The Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron presented his geopolitical vision of the European Union’s future. In the process, he spoke of a ‘NATO brain death’, which sounded to many like …
The Great Game was played by Great Britain and Russia throughout the 19th century and reflected the two powers’ political and strategic jostling for influence across Central Asia. It was essentially about geographic positioning, and …
Australian defence reviews always wail about fuzzy accountability and indirect responsibility. The critique was immortalised by Defence Department Secretary Allan Hawke, back in 2000, when he decried ‘a culture of learned helplessness among some Defence senior …
Further graphic revelations have emerged about how the Chinese state under General Secretary Xi Jinping is using its power against its own people and in the world in ways that are against Australia’s—and many other …
Sea state The European Union has announced 13 new projects to be funded under its Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) initiative. Two focus on naval defence: the first involves developing a new class of military ship, …
Until just a few years ago, it looked as if the problem posed by nuclear weapons had been successfully managed, if not solved. American and Russian nuclear stockpiles had been reduced substantially from their Cold …