Following last week’s by-all-accounts successful Australia-ASEAN summit in Melbourne, I offered some unsolicited advice for an ASEAN audience, on the differences between non-alignment and neutrality. In the same presumptuous vein, my recommendation to Australian readers …
If you are leader of an Australian political party, prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister or Ambassador to the US, the opening paragraph on a speech on the Alliance will contain a reference to our …
So now Chinese police are operating in Kiribati. Let’s be clear about why that’s a problem. If Chinese police are in a country, Chinese expatriates are more easily controlled and groups favoured by China can …
I have previously argued for Australia to take an active role in the design and procurement process for the nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarine (SSN) to be acquired under the AUKUS agreement with the US and …
The future of US-China rivalry is not likely to become a cold war, nor a hot one. Rather, it’s more likely to be a simmer war, a new situation in which there is persistent competition …
Opening up opportunities for Australia’s women in high-tech areas is about much more than fairness. It has become a strategic imperative. This is crucial as Australia faces its most complex array of national security challenges …
Today, no doubt, there’ll be morning teas with cupcakes in each of the nation’s security agencies to mark International Women’s Day. But how will any of that improve the situation for women, peace and security? …
An historic appointment was made late last year, of Heather Cook as CEO of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and director of the Australian Institute of Criminology. To little fanfare or media coverage, Cook started …
Almost three years have passed since the leaders of the four Quad countries pledged to co-operate on critical technologies to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific. With technology …
Against the backdrop of the standoff between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the second Special Australia-ASEAN Summit offered leaders from Australia and Southeast Asia the opportunity to speak candidly about the …
As this week’s 50th anniversary ASEAN-Australia summit wraps up in Melbourne, I would like to offer one simple piece of policy advice to each party to help them strengthen their relations in future from a …
The catalyst for the Gulf War was the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 1 August 1990. After condemning the invasion and demanding Iraq’s withdrawal, the UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions. The Security Council also …
Preparations are already underway at the United Nations for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was originally signed in 1968. Many expect a …
The development in August last year attracted little attention, but it represented a significant step forward in the strategic relationship between Japan and Australia. For the first time, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force deployed two …
The US, Australia and partner countries should take a page from China’s stockpiling playbook. They should build up stockpiles of critical minerals, managing inventories to optimise prices for domestic mineral producers and consumers and to …
The ASEAN-Australia leaders’ summit in Melbourne offers the opportunity for Australia to embrace ASEAN’s ‘inclusive regionalism’ and the organisation’s centrality in mediating the Indo-Pacific struggle between the great powers. With the Albanese government’s $2bn …
Defence cooperation between Australia and Japan has yet to find its top gear but, after a cautious start, that relationship is in pole position among Australia’s regional security partnerships. The road ahead may soon lead …
In the 2023 defence strategic review (DSR), the Australian government recognised that Australia’s innovation ecosystem needed a leg up. Greater support for innovation, reinforced by faster acquisition timelines and deeper ties between government and industry …
Journalists, it has been said, write the first rough draft of history. This is particularly true in China, where official sources and local media provide an incomplete picture and unofficial sources are scarce. As a …
In December 2021 the then president of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, made a largely unexpected working visit to Australia, at the end of his term, and at unusually short notice. Media speculation was …
