Donald Trump has caused a profound shift in the way Canberra thinks about a US leader, but not yet about US leadership. Call this The Donald dichotomy. Australia confronts an ‘America First’ president who is …
In my previous post on the recently released 2017 Independent Intelligence Review, I promised to come back to the subject of oversight. But before we get to that, it’s important to understand the legislative framework …
As some readers will probably recognise, the title of this post is a phrase drawn from Herman Kahn’s On thermonuclear war, one of the more depressing texts of the 20th century. Kahn, writing in 1960 …
Welcome back to ASPI suggests. This week’s unsolicited advice is to never use all your A-material on the first try—just in case you’re invited to perform once again. On Monday, North Korea test-launched a second …
Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted from office on 28 July for the third time, not because he lost an election but because of the intervention of non-parliamentary institutions in the political process. He …
Democracy in Africa is in the spotlight as more than 30 million voters in Angola, Rwanda and Kenya get set to go to the polls in August. If the number of elections were a yardstick …
In February 2016, Defence said it would produce a ‘periodically updated’ online version of its Integrated Investment Program (PDF) to ‘ensure industry has access to current information’. More than 16 months later, we can …
The Philippines is poised to become strategically more important to Australia, leading to opportunities for intensified defence cooperation. At a recent dialogue held in Manila on deepening the Australia–Philippines relationship, hosted by the Foreign Service …
We live in troubled times, with pessimism clouding even the most prosperous parts of the planet. Many are convinced that the international order is falling apart. Some fear that a clash of civilizations is imminent, …
After last year’s shock US election result, many critics of Donald Trump had hoped he would grow into the presidency and heed its reasonable conventions. Not so. After more than six months, his administration has been …
The beat Maduro flexes his muscles After four months of street protests about the Venezuelan government, another bloody episode of clashes between protesters and state power occurred on Sunday. Several people were killed in the …
Over the last decade, India’s progressive economic and military development has resulted in a strategic rebalancing of the geopolitical and security dynamics shaping power relations in South Asia. As China continues to expand its influence, …
Freedom of navigation patrols have become a high-profile component of the West’s opposition to Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. But freedom of navigation isn’t really the core interest. Navigators have no difficulty …
Big-data analytics and machine-learning algorithms have been key drivers for a number of high-profile developments over the past year. Data was used by Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo first to smash through the AI winter, and then …
The place Russia occupies in the political maelstrom in Washington, the recent sanctions bills in Congress and Putin’s cuts to the American diplomatic presence in Russia are driving the US’s relationship—and hence the West’s relationship—with …
North Korea’s determination to acquire an intercontinental missile capability continues to alarm US officials and experts. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson noted that last week’s missile test—now acknowledged to be an ICBM—‘represents a new escalation …
It’s been a big week in cybersecurity. The twin giants of #infosec conferences, Black Hat and DEF CON, has just wrapped up in Las Vegas, and a DefCon Beijing beta event has been announced. The …
Responses to the federal government’s announcement two weeks ago that it’s expanding the ADF’s role in domestic counterterrorism (CT) responses were quickly subsumed by public discussion about the new Home Affairs portfolio. But with public …
Last week, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel interrupted his holiday on the North Sea to respond to Turkey’s jailing of a German human-rights activist. Gabriel warned German tourists about the dangers of visiting Turkey, and …
If you are having trouble keeping up with the story, here’s what happened since the last episode of White House Days of Our Lives: The Mooch lasted barely 10 days as White House communications director …