Originally published 16 June 2020. Earlier this month, I completed my posting in Iraq as head of delegation with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC is an organisation that addresses the humanitarian …
Originally published 7 April 2020. The Australian government is properly focused on managing the domestic effects of Covid-19. But we must also think about a changing external environment. Middle powers are not generally prime movers in …
Originally published 19 November 2020. After a four-year-long investigation into allegation that members of Australian special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan, 25 soldiers stand accused of murdering 39 unarmed Afghan civilians or prisoners and …
Originally published 20 January 2020. It is disappointing that the Brits are doing the wrong thing on 5G, having not exhausted other possibilities. Instead they have doubled down on a flawed and outdated cybersecurity model …
Originally published 6 March 2020. When you stop and think about it, it seems a miracle that the global economy spins on as well as it does. As the spread of Covid-19 has shown, any …
Originally published 19 August 2020. Australia’s 2020 defence strategic update and accompanying force structure plan outline the next 20 years of development for the Royal Australian Air Force’s strike and air combat capability. Some notional …
Originally published 16 May 2020. Can Australia stop the Chinese government’s economic coercion against our government and businesses? Yes. All it would take is for Australian political leaders and parliaments to align our national policies, …
Editors’ picks for 2020: ‘Australia’s electoral system isn’t immune to US-style conspiracy theories’
Originally published 24 November 2020. Three weeks after Americans went to the polls, the morass of conspiracy theories and disinformation surrounding the election and its results continues to grow. Although the US is half a …
After a very, very long year, The Strategist team is taking a short break. Starting on Monday 28 December, we’ll be republishing some of our favourite posts from 2020. Thank you very much for reading …
Of all the countries that the new US administration might wish to nudge its way as it tackles the implications of Beijing’s power and ambitions, very few matter more strategically than Indonesia. Yet such are the obstacles to achieving this in the …
US$12 billion (A$15 billion) is not a lot of money for developing a fighter jet. But it turns out to be a steep bill if you build only 90 units. Yet Japan has decided it …
While the landing of China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft on the moon earlier this month was a significant event on humanity’s collective journey through space, the planting of a Chinese flag on the lunar surface raises serious …
With President-elect Joe Biden set to take office on 20 January, there’s little time to formulate a China policy, though it’s clear his administration’s approach to Beijing could have long-term implications for stability and peace …
As artificial intelligence technologies become more powerful and deeply integrated in human systems, countries around the world are struggling to understand the benefits and risks they might pose to national security, prosperity and political stability. …
As Joe Biden’s inauguration approaches, debate about the US’s China policy is intensifying. At issue are the traditional pillars of strategy ambiguity and dual deterrence. Strategic ambiguity means that the US reserves the right to …
As announced today by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, ASPI will host the Sydney Dialogue—which we aim to make the world’s premier summit for emerging, critical and cyber technologies—in the second half of 2021. This annual …
Stable Seas recently released its third annual Maritime Security Index with one very important addition. This year, the geographic scope was expanded to include Australia for the first time. The index tells us about the …
Even after Asia’s economies climb out of the Covid-19 recession, China’s strategy of frenetically building dams and reservoirs on transnational rivers will confront them with a more permanent barrier to long-term economic prosperity: water scarcity. …
If the tradition still holds, arriving on Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s desk this week will be a report setting out the Australian intelligence community’s best guesses (they will call them ‘judgements’) as to big strategic …
The signing of a $204 million memorandum of understanding between a Chinese government-backed fishery company and the Papua New Guinea government to build a ‘comprehensive multi-functional fishery industrial park’ on the Torres Strait island of Daru …