Prof Paul Dibb’s revisiting of exactly how close we came to nuclear war in 1983 reminded me of my own small role in propelling the world towards nuclear Armageddon at that time. Armed with the …
Recent commentary on US President Barack Obama’s last minute cancellation of his trips to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Bali and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Brunei overwhelmingly reflected classical ‘zero-sum’ thinking. …
My former ASPI colleague Carl Ungerer has pointed out that Doc Evatt first used the term ‘middle power’ at the San Francisco conference that established the United Nations in April 1945. In a recent op-ed …
In the wake of the US President’s decision to pull out of any engagements in Asia surrounding the APEC summit in Bali last week, critics of the US rebalance to Asia policy have exploited his …
There’s no underestimating the significance of the first ever ASEAN Regional Forum workshop on cyber security held in China, which I was fortunate enough to be part of. So frequently the accused protagonist in cyberspace, …
The result of al-Shabaab’s gruesome strike in the Westgate Mall in Nairobi has been international condemnation. It will be followed by a beef up in security around Kenya (this is already happening), and more resources …
In ordering administrative upheaval in Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tony Abbott finally killed off an aid consensus that had lasted for a brief political moment, while quietly breaking an Iron Law of politics that ruled …
How does the region perceive the US pivot? Here’s one perspective from Jakarta: Asia would welcome a US policy that will, of necessity, be vastly different from the 2011 pivot, and one that is more realistic and less …
Paul Dibb’s account of the 1983 Able Archer incident (and blog posts here and here) is disturbing—as much for the questions it doesn’t raise as for the details of the misperceptions that nearly led to a …
At the Sea Power Conference in Sydney I set out a number of steps that the new Government should take in developing the promised 2015 defence white paper. In my last post, I discussed what …
Speaking at the Sea Power Conference earlier this week, an apology was necessary to Shakespeare when I mangled his line in Julius Caesar: ‘I come to bury the 2013 White Paper, not to praise it.’ …
This post is part two of an extract by the editors from Paul Dibb’s paper The Nuclear War Scare of 1983, to be released later today. As I explained in yesterday’s post, the world came uncomfortably …
This post is part one of a two part extract by the editors from Paul Dibb’s paper The Nuclear War Scare of 1983, to be released tomorrow. The last crisis of 1983 was one of …
Arsenals of Folly: the making of the nuclear arms race (2007) and The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986), by Richard Rhodes. Tomorrow ASPI will publish a short paper by Professor Paul Dibb which describes …
Well, she certainly doesn’t look a hundred. Indeed, it’s rather more as if the Navy’s developed something of the sophisticated allure of an older woman; after all, she was painting her ships 50 shades of …
I was in Malaysia last week at the 2nd Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum, and on Friday I reported on the outcomes of the Conference on Maritime Confidence Building Measures (MCBMs) in the South China Sea that …
The South China Sea is ‘probably the world’s single most complex, and intractable, international relations problem’. Gareth Evans, in proclaiming the South China Sea as the biggest and most complex headache, didn’t mention any of …
It’s another public holiday here in sunny Canberra, but we thought these posts from our archives would be topical to revisit. First up, submarines: last week saw Cameron Stewart publish articles on the prospects for life …
The US and Japan agreed to expand defence cooperation during Secretaries Kerry and Hagel’s visit to Tokyo this week. Hagel said: Our bilateral defense cooperation, including America’s commitment to the security of Japan, is a …
Online security firm Symantec has released a report detailing the activities of an online ‘hackers-for hire’ group it has dubbed ‘Hidden Lynx’. The company claims the group possesses levels of capability and sophistication not seen …