Australia’s latest foreign policy white paper is—like the geostrategic region it purports to describe—complex and challenging. White papers usually are, because they are the product of many hands. But in this case there are other …
Foreign policy white papers can disappoint. More than white papers on domestic policy, they deal largely with the unknown. And, for small and medium-sized countries in particular, foreign policy is often more a matter of …
We can’t sit back while others engage in hard and soft power strategies to win influence, not if Australia is to positively shape the Indo-Pacific. That is one of the key messages of last week’s …
Australia’s defence industry is being exposed to the operational and technological needs of high-technology defence forces and the global prime contractors in a way they’ve never experienced before. To survive, and to flourish, Australian defence …
In geoeconomics and trade as much as in the security realm, Australia fears the international rules of the game are being battered and eroded. In musing on the future of the Indo-Pacific, Australia’s new foreign …
The 17th of November marked the centenary of the Second Battle of the Heligoland Bight. An inconclusive action, unsatisfactory for both Germans and British, it came about because of vital changes in the naval war. …
The world This week pundits continued to pick apart President Donald Trump’s Asia trip. This piece from China File takes a look at the geopolitical manoeuvring of two great powers, now possibly on equal footing, …
The German shipbuilder Lürssen Werft has been selected to design and oversee the building of the Australian Navy’s 12 new offshore patrol vessels. But in a move that has startled some in the industry, the …
A series of stunning political developments, originating in Saudi Arabia, has been roiling an already volatile Middle East. Is a major new war in the offing? Saudi Arabia’s ambitious 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman …
China’s military modernisation remains a key concern for the US and its allies. Crucial in that regard has been China’s development of forces geared towards preventing uncontested access to its air and maritime approaches by …
Australia’s foreign policy must advance our values and our national interests. It must do so clear-eyed and pragmatic, in a time when the pace and scale of change is unprecedented in all of human history. …
The cover of the Turnbull government’s 2017 foreign policy white paper shows Australia large and at the centre of our universe—but still dwarfed by the imposing vastness of Asia stretching right over it. Europe, at …
Australia’s foreign policy white paper is a contrast study, both dark and light. Bright vistas of international opportunity are described beneath storm clouds of ‘political alienation and economic nationalism’. Here are both dreams and nightmares: …
The beat Open letter against domestic abuse The Lochaber and Skye Police in Scotland has received praise for a series of tweets it published to express its support for women trapped in situations of domestic …
Mohammed bin Salman, the young crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has established two things beyond doubt since his father, King Salman, ascended the throne in 2015 and handed him the keys …
Australian mining companies are at the forefront of exploration, operations and investment on the African continent. As Foreign Minister Julie Bishop noted at the Africa Down Under conference in Perth in September 2017, more than …
Australia and the United States enjoy deep historical links in the areas of law, the economy and defence. As we confront the challenges of the age of disruption, there are five policy approaches that will …
Last Wednesday, Zimbabweans woke up to the news that the army had been forced to act to defuse a political crisis created by the unconstitutional sacking of the vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and others within …
After four weeks of exploratory talks between the centre-right parties led by Angela Merkel failed to find enough common ground with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) to begin formal negotiations on a …
In September, ASPI hosted the 2017 Nuclear Strategy Masterclass where leading defence and security experts dissected the current environment. Some key warnings resonated from the event: the threats that Australia faces regionally, and as a …