China coming between old friends

‘President Putin… hailed the role of Vietnam in Southeast Asia and confirmed that Vietnam is one of the external priorities of Russia in the Asian-Pacific region… Russia also supports ASEAN and China to jointly build …

Cyber wrap

Following the high profile infiltration of the DNC’s email servers earlier in this year, the FBI’s now working to allay concerns that vote counting machines could be next on the hit-list of would-be saboteurs. FBI …

An upgrade for the Air Warfare Destroyer—already?

Analysing Australian defence expenditures is like a game of Battleship. Occasionally you’ll score a hit, but attempting to understand a given acquisition often results in an ineffectual splash. A big part of the problem is …

China’s dam problem with Myanmar

China is a big fan of dams. Indeed, over the last 50 years, the country has constructed more dams than all other countries combined. But there’s one dam that China never managed to get built: …

Terrorism hijacks France’s presidential election

France’s presidential campaign is heating up, with terrorism constituting one of the key debate topics. In the past 18 months, four terrorist attacks have targeted French territories, from Paris to the small suburban city of …

Aussie diggers: building partner capacity

For well over a century Australian soldiers have been deploying offshore on combat operations. It could be argued, though, that some of the Army’s most valuable and enduring contributions in conflict have been building local …

Trump’s emotional intelligence deficit

Last month, 50 former national security officials who had served at high levels in Republican administrations from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush published a letter saying they wouldn’t vote for their party’s presidential nominee, …

ASPI suggests

On the back of Gary Johnson’s ‘What is Aleppo?’ gaffe overnight, The Atlantic have gathered a harrowing set of photos to show us all exactly what Aleppo is. Commentators have put their hands up to …

How to overhaul the dismal trade of strategy

There’s no shortage of dark, pessimistic visions out there, including a revisionist Russia, an assertive China, the end of globalisation, a declining America and an endless war on terrorism. A strategist might tell you that …

It’s time for a transformational foreign policy

Australia needs a forward-looking foreign policy to guide the efforts of our hardworking diplomats. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s intention, as reported recently, to commission a Foreign Policy White Paper is timely. As Graeme Dobell’s post …

National security wrap

The Beat The net closes on Panama Papers suspects Tax evading high net wealth Australians will be sweating on ATO investigations into Australians allegedly identified in the Panama Papers. The ATO advises that criminal charges …

America’s unruly anti-ISIS allies

Soon after Turkey officially entered the fray in Syria last month, some 350 Turkish troops marched alongside more than 1,000 US-equipped Syrian rebel forces to clear the Islamic State (ISIS) out of the Syrian city …