Headlining today is Mullah Omar’s death in 2013—what does it mean? Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Omar’s deputy, has now ascended to the top job but Pakistan, host to negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives, confirms talks are …
With RAN’s new amphibious assault ship HMAS Canberra continuing a series of intensive training and assessment periods, and its sister ship HMAS Adelaide readying for commission next year, Australia’s amphibious warfare capability is fast becoming …
Among the flood of centenary anniversaries and commemorations, one that slipped past without comment was the destruction of the German cruiser Konigsberg in East Africa on 11 July 1915. Although less well-known than her sister …
As everybody now knows, the Chinese economy has a big impact on Australia. Chinese demand for Australian commodities influences our rate of economic growth, the value of our currency and—critically for the government—our tax revenues. …
The ADF currently lacks the tradition, culture and organisational expertise to maintain and deploy a world class amphibious warfare capability. The current command and control (C2) structures don’t adequately address the high degree of specialisation …
The Beat Stopping the pirates Australians take out the dubious honour of being some of the top illegal downloaders of film and television content. A study commissioned by the Department of Communications reveals the top …
Observing Indonesia over half a century—rather than via the prism of daily newspaper headlines—reveals a poorly understood story of fundamental economic, social and political transformation. It’s one that the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies (BIES), produced by …
The recent SDSC–CSIS report The ANZUS alliance in an ascending Asia (PDF) makes an interesting argument about the US–Australia alliance becoming a ‘central hub’ for American policy in the Pacific. We explained yesterday why we …
This morning the Australian Cyber Security Centre released its first unclassified threat report on the online threat environment that Australia faces, including cyber espionage, cyber attack, and cybercrime. It explains that these threats are delivered …
The ADF has developed a detailed, integrated and truly joint plan to develop and validate an impressive amphibious warfare capability by mid-2017 as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre. However this powerful joint force element will …
While everyone’s anxiously watching and analysing the events unravelling in the South China Sea, there’s another resource conflict involving China that also deserves attention. In the Himalayas, China and India are competing for valuable hydropower …
We read the recent SDSC–CSIS report The ANZUS alliance in an ascending Asia (PDF) with interest. We agree with much of their analysis of alliance strengths and possible points of divergence in the face of …
Sea State The Taiwanese Navy will procure eight to ten MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters in a US$700–800 million deal under the US Foreign Military Sales program, with a letter of acceptance expected in …
In a recent post, I argued that the western strategy against ISIS is failing and described the group as a state-like entity destabilising the greater Middle East, embedded within a loose ‘Internationale’ that presents a …
The fifth annual Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conference on the South China Sea, held in Washington DC last Wednesday, was a quality event, where knowledgeable experts rubbed shoulders with senior politicians and …
The national counterterrorism blueprint, Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy, released last week by the Council of Australian Governments, has received little attention. This is surprising given the national terrorism public alert level has been high since last …
Some years back, David Rapoport penned one of the more important assessments of modern terrorism, arguing that since about 1880 terrorism has appeared as four distinct ‘waves’ (PDF). Each wave has been dominated by a …
Australia’s nightmare about the US alliance has two versions: home alone or crushed by the embrace. Opposing dreads: Oz abandoned versus Oz abused. For decades, home alone was dominant. Oz would call but Washington would …
Headlining today are details about the nuclear deal signed with Iran. For a thorough overview, listen to CSIS Senior Fellow and Director of the Proliferation and Prevention program Sharon Squassoni on the particulars of the …
After the leaking of a report about the recent failure of an F-35 to win in a dogfight against an F-16D, debate has intensified about the future nature of air to air combat. In a …
