The only time I had ever seen La Moneda (‘the Mint’)—the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile—was in a newsreel showing the Hawker Hunter aircraft of the Chilean Air Force bombing that magnificent edifice during the …
The old defence dictum that talking dollars is a necessary condition for talking policy is applied in spades in Hugh White’s most recent book. After a discussion in the early chapters of our strategic challenges …
As a former Royal Navy submarine commander, I read with interest Hugh White’s suggestion that Australia may, in the decades to come, need to confront the issue of whether it should have its own nuclear …
Since the renewal of hostilities between the Turkish government and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces in mid-2015, following a two-year ceasefire, the conflict has claimed around 4,500 lives, adding to approximately 40,000 casualties since the …
The Palestinian Authority boycotted the US-led international conference held in Bahrain in mid-June on the economic aspects of the US Middle East peace plan. PA President Mahmoud Abbas made the decision to reject the US …
There is a growing debate, domestically and internationally, about the nature of future conflict. Recently Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell drew attention to political warfare as a key element of a changing threat paradigm. …
There’s been a lot of talk lately about lots of submarines and fighter jets playing a role in Australia’s security. But in all the excitement of contemplating future battles between fleets of submarines and fortuitously …
Power is the ability to impose one’s will without aid from or hindrance by others. It can be exercised by individuals (including individual states) or in combination with others (through alliances, for example). Power can …
Charles de Gaulle had ‘a certain idea of France’. But does Ursula von der Leyen, the next president of the European Commission, have a certain idea of Europe, in the way Jacques Delors did when …
As the French launched the first of their Barracuda-class nuclear-powered attack submarines this month, the transfer of advanced intellectual property to Australia for its conventionally powered cousin gathered momentum. So far, 19 engineers from Naval …
In our final episode looking at ASPI’s ‘War in 2025’ conference, we bring you analysis of the fabulous speech delivered by the chief of the Australian Defence Force, Angus Campbell. We also talk with the …
The news that China and Cambodia may have signed a secret agreement for Beijing to have long-term control over part of Cambodia’s Ream naval base, with the right to base People’s Liberation Army naval vessels, …
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recently concluded three-day visit to Washington was aimed at resetting US–Pakistan relations. The relationship has been under great strain for several years and reached its nadir after the assumption of …
One of the frustrating and tragic aspects of the Syrian conflict is its capacity to regenerate in ever-more complex guises. So many players are involved, both internal and external, that the conventional media have pretty …
Scott Morrison has been touched by Forrest Gump magic. Come the election, the prime minister went into full Forrest mode: ‘Run, ScoMo, run!’ A federal election is like a box of chocolates. You never know …
Our man, the American journalist George Packer’s new 600-page biography of Richard Holbrooke, is a masterful book, not just for what it says about the late US diplomat himself, but also for how it portrays …
Hugh White’s How to defend Australia is an elegant book but also something of a party trick: engagingly clever but not realistic. It will be essential reading for every national security master’s degree by coursework …
The world China this week released its new defence white paper titled China’s national defense in the new era—see here for the English version. Australia is mentioned a grand total of once in the 51-page …
In the past decade, the concept of urban resilience has become integral to the development and design strategies of city planners and decision-makers around the world. As cities have grown larger, there’s been a concerted …
Recently I considered the differences between American and European understandings of technology in a strategic context. There’s a further wrinkle to be teased out concerning a specific group of Western nations: those that belong to …