Last week’s news of a Chinese couple’s audacious plot to set up a mini-state in the Republic of the Marshall Islands by allegedly bribing members of parliament and officials was deeply disturbing: if successful, it …
During a parliamentary debate in April, I expressed my concerns about India’s relationship with Russia. My words were met with grim-faced silence. But the events of the last five months have only strengthened my case. …
A key task for those carrying out the government’s defence strategic review is to consider the ability of the Australian Defence Force to engage in a high-intensity, state-on-state conflict in our region. Such a conflict …
Northern Australia sits at the end of extended food supply chains of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres in length. This feature has long been identified as a point of vulnerability for populations in the north of …
As the Chinese Communist Party’s year-end congress approaches, competition among the party factions is heating up. Not only will the five-yearly party congress, set to begin on 16 October, appoint a new Politburo Standing Committee, …
‘It is up to all of us to work towards a strategic equilibrium in the region.’ — Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Singapore, July 2022 The Asian century isn’t turning out how Australia had hoped. A …
In this week’s episode, ASPI’s Ulas Yildirim speaks with Professor Beatrice Heuser, chair of international relations at the University of Glasgow, about continuity and change in war. Heuser this week delivered the 2022 J.G. Grey …
As the world marks the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks this weekend, two other events should be remembered. Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated on 9 September 2001 by al-Qaeda agents, two days …
Sea state Australian submariners are to be trained aboard British nuclear-powered submarines under a deal announced by UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace. Meanwhile, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is considering legislation that would …
The recent executions of four high-profile democracy activists in Myanmar—the first to take place in the country in more than three decades—plainly demonstrate the enduring brutality of its military regime. Since ousting the civilian government …
Russia’s attempts to diversify its gas export markets have been in the news of late, and, despite the ambiguities, the prospects for and implications of these moves raise some important geopolitical issues. China has increased …
Australia isn’t trying to interfere in Solomon Islands’ democracy, as Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has claimed. However, poor timing has provided an opening for Honiara to launch fiery political attacks at Canberra and divert the …
ASPI’s John Coyne is right to conclude that ‘logistics and infrastructure matter as much in major conflict today as they did in World War II’. In the broader history of conflict—of war and strategy—this realisation …
Journalists and policy analysts should spend more time reading history. If they did, they would be better placed to challenge the diplomats and politicians who casually requisition the past in order to lay claim to …
It has now been more than six months since German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stood before a special session of the Bundestag to address Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. ‘We are living through a watershed era. …
Whether it wins or loses its war on Ukraine, Russia is likely to become more dangerous and unpredictable, and Australia needs to prepare better to deter an increased threat of nuclear conflict. That grim conclusion …
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and nuclear sabre rattling against the West have revived a debate about nuclear weapons. Last year, when a United Nations treaty to ban such weapons outright entered into force, none of …
Michael J. Green’s volume on contemporary Japanese grand strategy is one of the latest in a growing repository of studies shining a spotlight on the recent resurgence of Japan’s national power and purpose—a process largely …
Governments will always be outpaced by technological innovation. The internet, or more broadly cyberspace, is a unique domain that governments have yet to successfully navigate as they have with land, sea, air and space. It …
ASPI has analysed thousands of suspicious tweets posted in 2021 relating to the Indonesian region of Papua and assessed that they are inauthentic and were crafted to promote the policies and activities of the Indonesia …