Stuck in the middle of U

It’s good to see that the ‘Option J’ paper Ben Schreer and I wrote is generating responses. Hugh White and Sam Bateman raise concerns about a closer relationship with Japan: both of them argue that …

Cyber wrap

Kicking off April, President Obama continued his efforts to secure cyberspace by Executive Order. Following up on the slew of proposals set out in the lead up to January’s State of the Union Address, the …

Contestability—once more into the breach

Last week I described the ‘new’ contestability mechanisms designed into the First Principles Review revamp of the Defence capability process. I observed that the new contestability mechanism closely resembles the old Force Development and Analysis …

Extended nuclear assurance and the US navy

One of the advantages of modern technology is that it offers good access to distant conferences. Internet users already have access, for example, to a mixture of transcripts, audio files and videos from the Carnegie …

The strategic risks of Option J

In their paper supporting Option J, Andrew Davies and Benjamin Schreer don’t just rebut some of the strategic arguments raised against it, but also provide their own argument on strategic grounds in its favour. Their …

It’s Easter! (we’ll be back on Tuesday…)

The Strategist team is taking a break over the Easter long weekend until next Tuesday. Until then, put your feet up and enjoy this week’s blog posts including commentary and analysis from our international conference Future …

ASPI suggests

If you’re looking to get your defence and national security fix over the Easter long weekend, look no further! Long-read, world leader profiles are becoming a tradition for Suggests: the latest is a The New Yorker piece …

First Principles, Last Post

For Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, David Peever’s is the review to end all reviews. According to the Minister, The First Principles Review delivers a corporate structure that will enable the defence organisation to deliver on …

CT Scan

This week in Counterterrorism Scan, we’ll cover Australian deradicalisation programs, lessons learnt from 9/11, Malaysia’s CT bills,  magazines of Islamic States, Britain’s terrorism problem, radicalised children, media coverage and violence in Nigeria. At home, Sarah …

Yemen: a problem of proxies and poverty

In early 2010, Sheikh ‘Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani, then a US government-designated terrorist by virtue of his support for al-Qaeda, convened a meeting of Yemeni activists to urge national defence against foreign intervention. At the meeting …

The Beat

This week on The Beat, indigenous communities, piracy, remittance services closing, sport, calls for a greater transnational focus on organised crime and a former PM gets a rude shock on social media. Organised crime targeting …

DMO and the future of Australian shipbuilding

The second day of ASPI’s Future Surface Fleet conference has so far produced some forthright observations about the state of Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry, including the troubled AWD project. The conference’s final day coincides with …