A new order’s being born in Asia and the power and number of the players mean it’ll be a contested order. The potential for clash and instability is high. The 10 Asia Essentials of my …
Christopher Painter, the US State Department’s Coordinator for Cyber Issues, conducted an insightful interview last week on cyber diplomacy, norms and whole-of-government approaches to cybersecurity. Painter, who is the lead negotiator on the US – …
David Connery’s recent post prompts us to understand serious and organised crime as a national security issue. This is often difficult to comprehend because organised crime is like an iceberg: the majority of it is …
China’s top leaders descended quietly upon the seaside resort of Beidaihe in early August for its customary summer retreat. This year, in contrast to the last party conclave, may have been less political horse trading …
The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ is gaining currency. It appeared in this year’s Defence White Paper as an alternative to ‘Asia–Pacific’, and although the formulation varies slightly, it has been picked up by both sides of Australian …
Crispin Rovere and Kalman Robertson have responded to my earlier comments on their ‘low-yield nuclear weapon treaty’ proposal, but I’m not convinced by their argument. They claim that low-yield weapons ‘are a unique class of …
Back in June, I was asked to speak at a workshop in Ottawa on defence reform, alongside presenters from the United States and United Kingdom. It was a great opportunity to catch up on what’s …
Neither Australia nor New Zealand wants to have to choose between the United States and China in the possible option that Hugh White has envisaged so starkly. But if push comes to shove, it can’t …
Ten Essentials are shaping Asia’s success and the chance of future conflict. The Essentials drive diplomacy and strategy and are at the core of what’s a new system. They fall under three main headings; great …
Recent commentary, including by Phil Radford here on The Strategist, has argued that Japan’s new Izumo (DDH22) ‘flat top destroyer’ is in fact the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (MSDF) first, ‘mid-sized aircraft carrier’ since the Second …
Mixed defence news for India this week: the county’s first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine was activated days before an incident in which the kilo-class submarine INS Sindhurakshak exploded. Eighteen Indian sailors are feared dead. The Economist …
Rod Lyon doesn’t like our proposal for a treaty to ban low-yield nuclear weapons. But his objections employ arguments at the strategic level (pardon the pun); not focusing on the provisions of the proposed treaty, …
The idea of strategic narratives is stirring again (and here). The idea was reinvigorated a few years back by Mr Y, a US Army Colonel and a USN Captain, who proposed a new American national …
But for the attention certain to be given to the issue of asylum seekers, it is unlikely that foreign policy will play much of a role in the forthcoming election campaign. That’s regrettable, as there …
As outlined by Tobias Feakin and Jessica Woodall’s post last week, ASPI recently launched its new international cyber policy centre in Sydney. An expert panel discussed many facets of Australian cyber policy. What wasn’t really …
A little while back, we identified a set of challenges that whichever incoming government and Defence Minister would have to grapple with. In the new ASPI paper Agenda for change: strategic choices for the next …
The Strategist has featured a number of items recently related to the Strategic Insights paper that Crispin Rovere and Kalman Robertson have written about the proposed next step in nuclear arms control. Broadly, the original …
Today, ASPI released James Manicom’s ‘Sources of Tension in the Asia–Pacific: Strategic Competition, Divided Regionalism and Non-Traditional Security Challenges’. It’s the first in a series of three papers commissioned for a project that ASPI has …
It’s hard to disagree with the threat assessment that Julian Cribb makes in his recent Strategist post ‘Food … or war?’. We’re witnessing an emerging food crisis that’ll become the dominant human narrative for the …
The Minister for Home Affairs released the Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) latest update to its Organised Crime in Australia (PDF) series recently. This report is important and has implications for every Australian. The media needs to …