The Beat Non-‘Accra’-dited US Embassy A fake US embassy in Ghana which operated for about a decade has been shut down. The US State Department confirmed raids in Accra in which 150 passports from 10 …
Of all the eccentric conversations President-elect Trump has had with foreign heads of state and government since winning the election, the one he had last week with Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, ranks as …
As we wrote back in March, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee held an inquiry into Australia’s acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The election campaign in the middle of the …
The infamous botnet infrastructure ‘Avalanche’ used by cyber crooks to launch their malware campaigns and phishing attacks was taken down last week in a historic victory for international cooperation against cybercrime. After four years of …
We’ll have to wait to see what Donald Trump’s election means for Europe. Immediate responses have predicted a boost for right wing populist political parties in Europe. The presence and popularity of Eurosceptic and nationalist …
In early November, US President Barack Obama reportedly contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin personally to warn against cyber attacks aimed at the American presidential election. The previous month, the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, …
Since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election last month, the volume of discussion about Australia’s relationship with the US and our region has increased sharply. Politicians, officials, think-tankers and journalists have all weighed …
Sea State Starting off Down Under, the Australian government released a request for tender (RFT) for 12 new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) last week. In a statement released by Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, …
In the face of an increasingly contested international order, the European Union is strengthening its security and defence capacities. In June, the 28 Leaders of the European Union welcomed the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy that was presented …
The world has moved on but most South China Sea strategies are stuck in the past. For example, Australia’s policies have changed very little from 2011 to today. So instead, let’s think about strategies for …
Australia’s newest interlocutor for strategic policy in the White House is Michael T. Flynn, the retired US Army lieutenant general who is expected to be Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser. In his 2016 book, The …
Now the TPP’s as good as dead, the Chinese-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a possible Plan B for Vietnam. RCEP doesn’t have the US as a member and has previously been seen as a …
To see what Donald Trump will do to the future of the Oz-US alliance, ponder the lessons of the foundation legends. Start with the Labor Party’s creation saga: John Curtin’s turn to the US. The …
Hello, comrades. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a sobering report (PDF) this week about the incidence of suicide among serving and ex-serving ADF personnel. The report, said to be the first comprehensive …
One of the hallmarks of a presidential transition in the United States is a comprehensive policy review, aimed at determining which policies to retain and which to eliminate or change. As President-elect Donald Trump moves …
In my talks with Australian politicians, leaders, policymakers, academics and NGOs, one thing is clear: Indonesia is strategically and economically important for Australia. However, not much has been said about the importance of Australia for …
The so-called Islamic State recently released a new propaganda video featuring iconic images of Melbourne, interspersed with explosions and IS fighters brandishing firearms in urban combat. What to make of such developments? Should Australia be …
In the unsettled weeks since Donald Trump’s election, many prominent voices in Australia’s strategic policy community—including Kim Beazley , Dennis Richardson, Angus Houston and of course Malcolm Turnbull—have rushed to answer the question whether Mr …
The Beat A murder every 1.5 hours At least 6,640 murders took place in El Salvador last year, making it one of the world’s deadliest nations. Though numbers have dropped more recently, the country still …
Much of the speculation about the implications of a Trump presidency for Asia suggest at least some degree of US retrenchment from the region. Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans captured that pervasive sense of …