Sea State USS Zumwalt, the lead ship of the US Navy’s next-generation guided missile destroyers, was formally delivered by shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works last Friday. The eagerly awaited 610-foot ship features a tumblehome …
Churchill’s famous line, ‘Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,’ refers to Stalin’s totalitarian empire. Taken out of context it reinforces a national myth, etched in every Russian mind by the …
Taiwan’s new government already faces two major foreign policy challenges. The first is China’s disappointment over President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration speech last week. The second—which has hardly been mentioned in the strategic debate—is Taipei’s position …
The announcement that US President Barack Obama’s visit to Japan later this month will include a stop in Hiroshima is welcome news. Of course, Obama will not apologize for America’s 1945 nuclear attack, which annihilated …
The communications demands of the Media Age are so diverse and complex that only a simple answer will suffice. This is back-to-basics meets back-to-the future. Head to the bedrock of first principles while everything else …
Welcome back, comrades. A fresh batch of new research has been served up in the past week. In time for Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration in Taipei, the Center for a New American Security has released a …
Welcome to The Strategist Six, a feature that provides a glimpse into the thinking of prominent academics, government officials, military officers, reporters and interesting individuals from around the world. 1. What are the prospects for deeper …
It has been 50 years since the Indonesian military crushed the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) in a bloody pogrom that’s widely believed to have taken at least 500,000 lives—many of them innocent victims of …
‘If the world is increasingly divided between fire fighters and arsonists then Britain has, for centuries been a fire fighter. This is no time for Britain to join the ranks of the arsonists and there …
The Beat In depth: Anti-Corruption Summit On 12 May, British Prime Minister David Cameron held an Anti-Corruption Summit in London. The Summit focused on some of the biggest global corruption problems, including secrecy in the …
Washington has a serious long-term relationship dilemma with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And President Obama’s April visit to Saudi Arabia—the fourth one as president—was all about trying to shore up that relationship. Notwithstanding the …
In March the US State Department dropped a line to the Australian people via The Australian newspaper to let us know how fearful we are of Chinese investment. To illustrate their point, they homed in …
The White House announced last week that President Obama would visit Hiroshima later this month, making him the first US president to do so. He won’t be apologising for the US’s dropping of the atomic …
In an interesting turn of events, it appears that the 2014 Sony hack, February’s Bangladeshi bank heist and the attempted breach of a Vietnamese bank last year may all be linked. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank …
The terrain of the Media Age is a networked series of places—both land and a land of the mind. The borders are ever more porous. A vital part of the terrain is still occupied by …
The first batch of three River-class OPVs (HMS Tyne, Severn and Mersey) were ordered for the Royal Navy in April of 2001, built in Southampton, and commissioned in the second half of 2003. A fourth, …
Sea State The US Department of Defense released its annual report to Congress on China’s military and security developments on Friday, drawing particular attention to China’s actions in the South China Sea. The Pentagon review …
A major cyclone recently passed by Samoa. The Category-5 Cyclone Winston recently devastated Fiji, resulting in more than 44 fatalities and dislocating 350,000 people. Natural disasters will continue to ravage our Pacific neighbours. Nearly 10,000 …
At the launch of Australia’s new Cyber Security Strategy last month, the Prime Minister confirmed what many have been guessing for years: Australia possesses offensive cyber capabilities. The announcement, however, provided us with the barest …
Whoever finds herself as Foreign Minister after the 2 July federal election, she will need to adapt quickly to a new form of ‘dancing with the stars’. The election of Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte as President …