That’s all from The Strategist this year. Starting on Boxing Day, we’ll be republishing some of our favourite posts from 2017, supplemented in early January by special coverage of the release of official Australian Cabinet …
As our readers well know, The Strategist is a serious publication. We are not given to ‘silly season’ fluff pieces about baby animals or prone to shamelessly repackaging already-published material under the banner of retrospection. …
This month, Sri Lanka, unable to pay the onerous debt to China it has accumulated, formally handed over its strategically located Hambantota port to the Asian giant. It was a major acquisition for China’s Belt …
The beat Rifles in the streets? Around 50 NSW riot squad officers have been issued with semi-automatic assault rifles—Colt M4 Carbines, to be exact. Intended to be deployed in terror incidents, the officers could also …
Nearly three months after the 24 September 2017 federal elections in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel is still trying to form a new coalition. Negotiations will continue into the new year. Her Christian Democrat/Christian Social Union …
At the World Bank Group’s annual meetings in Washington DC in October, there was notable optimism in anticipation of an upswing in the global economy. The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook projects that …
With great fanfare, US President Donald Trump released his government’s first national security strategy. As expected, it continues his theme of ‘America first’ and the need to restore US power and global leadership. It’s also …
The landmark Ottawa Convention, also known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, is 20 years old this year, more or less. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 8 September 1997, opened for …
Australia’s foreign policy and defence white papers, launched over the past 18 months, are notable in describing a complex and uncertain global environment and our commitment to the values of the rule of law, human …
Before you snuggle by the fire with some eggnog and a copy of Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy (subtitled, in case you wondered, ‘of the United States of America’), I advise you to plan ahead, …
The ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific recently published a small volume of essays titled Nuclear Asia. With North Korea’s nuclear exploits featuring prominently in the headlines over the past 12 months, the issue …
Sea state During his visit to Beijing, Australia’s Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, was formally rebuked by his Chinese counterpart. Chinese Navy commander Shen Jinlong condemned the Australian Navy for having ‘compromised the …
Like the uprising of the ‘deplorables’ against globalisation that accounts for Donald Trump’s election and Brexit, are ‘peasant states’ now rebelling against the geopolitical heavyweights? The former dominate the 193-member UN General Assembly (UNGA), while …
The organisational reforms to defence acquisition that followed the First Principles Review were extensive. Cassandras that we are, at the time we worried about the risk of a ‘perfect storm’ of deteriorating external strategic circumstances, …
Amid the focus on the North Korean nuclear threat and China’s growing power, Australia’s military operation in Afghanistan barely receives attention in the strategic debate. However, as the US-led NATO mission is about to enter …
In the run-up to multiple votes around the world in 2016, including the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote and the United States presidential election, social media companies like Facebook and Twitter systematically served large numbers of …
On 23 October, Philippine Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana announced the end of the five-month battle for Marawi, after the Armed Forces of the Philippines defeated Islamic State–affiliated militants who had held the city since …
As 2017 limps out and 2018 edges in, here’s Old Dobell’s almanac of the times, trends and twists of history. Trump-eting: The US system is working, but it’s been a stress test from hell. America’s …
The most important question facing the United States—and in many ways the world—after the events of 2017 is this: Will Yeats’ fearful prophecy that ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold’ come true? Will it …
In my new Quarterly Essay, I argue that Australia may have to rethink the acquisition of nuclear weapons in the post-American Asia which I believe is now upon us. Paul Dibb has recently made a …