The Australian Defence Force is on the cusp of a revolution as it prepares to reorganise for cyber-enabled warfare. The military cyber shake-up coming many years late brings big problems and some windfall gains. In …
Democrats of all stripes have been celebrating the prospect that the pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron—not the far-right National Front’s Marine Le Pen—will be France’s next president. But while Macron’s victory is good news, it does …
Sea State President Trump has been blowing off steam about the US Navy’s catapults. Apparently, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) on the USS Gerald Ford—‘slated to become the crown jewel of the US Navy’—may …
At last we have the Turnbull government’s naval shipbuilding plan. It claims to be the first such plan, yet the Howard government released one in 2003 and we had a de facto one from the …
Australians need to face reality. There’s no viable defence against ICBMs fitted with nuclear warheads. If North Korea develops this technology it will have the capability to devastate cities in South Korea, Japan, Australia, the …
The Korean peninsula’s deservedly been labelled a ‘flashpoint’ for well over a half a century but flare-ups in tension appear to be happening more frequently. Under the Trump administration, Washington’s seemingly more inclined to allow …
Generations of Australians have been told that the Australian Light Horse Regiments, which distinguished themselves from the Sinai to Syria during the Great War, were not Cavalry. They were Mounted Infantry. Jean Bou, an historian …
The election of Emmanuel Macron as the next President of France has been welcomed as a sign of stability and a positive future for the country and the embattled European Union. Equally important, however, is …
To ponder 50 years of the Association of South East Asian Nations is to see the constant interplay of shadow and substance. On the shadow side, ASEAN always talks a good game and promises much. …
Defence Department Secretary Dennis Richardson retired today, after 48 years in the public service. In that time he also headed ASIO and DFAT, and served a term as Australia’s ambassador to Washington. This is an …
Welcome back to ASPI suggests, dear readers, where nary a week goes by without a fresh incident from 1600 Penn for us to sink our teeth into. This week, of course, it’s FBI Director James …
In 2015, 54 countries had developed National Action Plans (NAPs) on UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 to integrate gender perspectives into all areas of their peace and security policy-making and practices. Today, that number …
The RAAF’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, closely integrated with the Navy and the Army, will be a game changer for regional stability, says Air Force chief Leo Davies. In a major speech in Washington DC …
Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election, and its suspected hacking of French President Emmanuel Macron’s campaign servers, should surprise no one, given President Vladimir Putin’s (mis)understanding of soft power. Before his re-election in …
In March 2017, the Minister for Defence Industry told ABC radio that ‘We know the defence industry is driving the economy.’ He backed up that claim by referring to the just-released National Accounts for the …
One of the distinctive features of contemporary Indonesia is that it is an archipelagic state in which the government exercises sovereignty over the waters between the islands making up the country’s land territory as well …
The Beat Guns and trust in the Solomon Islands Limited rearmament is the name of the game in the Solomon Islands this week. On Tuesday, some 125 officers from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force …
Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen was much-needed good news for anyone who favors open, liberal democratic societies over their nativist, xenophobic counterparts. But the battle against right-wing populism is far from won. Le …
National security received a higher level of Budget attention than usual this week with Monday’s announcement of $321.4 million funding over four years for the AFP. However, announcing this the day before the Budget attracted …
The recent Taliban attack on an Afghan army post outside Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan—the deadliest-ever by the Taliban on a military base, killing some 150 recruits—underscores the terrorist group’s growing strength more than 15 years …