‘We build too many walls and not enough bridges’ – Sir Isaac Newton Having spent the last week in Beijing meeting with a range of think tanks, government officials and academics, I was struck by …
Thanks to Brigadier Will Taylor (ret.) for an elegant summary of what seems to me to be the prevailing orthodoxy in Britain on this issue (in response to my piece here). The core of his …
The New Zealand government’s decision to commit an extra A$95m per year to defence for the next five years would scarcely rate a mention if the same had happened in Australia. The total of that …
Over two days last week in Sao Paulo, the much vaunted and anticipated NETmundial Conference came and went. Leaders from business, government, civil society, academia and other arenas converged to talk about the future of …
Three Bob Carrs jostle for attention in Diary of a Foreign Minister. There’s Bob the individual, a self-described ‘elitist arriviste’ with a range of tics and quirks. He’s got a passion for Pilates, an obsession …
Why is Defence funding like a duck swimming? Because there’s a lot going on underwater. Many defence projects exist that the average newspaper reader never hears about, but these projects are vital for making the …
Unsurprisingly, it’s the big defence procurement decisions that make the headlines—whether it’s the choice about the future submarine or last week’s decision to acquire 58 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF). As the Australian Defence Force (ADF) …
The tragic loss of Malaysian flight MH370 highlighted some compelling facts. Australia is responsible for some of the largest territory in the world—our search and rescue area covers nearly one tenth of the globe. The …
First up, on the domestic front this week a couple of reports have elevated the issue of government cybersecurity standards, or lack thereof. Australian Financial Review sources allege that the Chinese intelligence agencies that penetrated …
For decades, when Australia talked about China it was really thinking about the United States. The ‘say-Beijing-think-Washington’ syndrome explains much about the refusal to recognise China until 1972, and was a continuing component of Canberra …
In a recent commentary in The National Interest, titled ‘Let Asia go nuclear’, Harvey Sapolsky and Christine Leah outlined a case in favour of the US accepting nuclear proliferation by its allies in the Asia …
ASPI’s report earlier this year on the police-to-police relationship between Australia and Indonesia is well timed; with Indonesia’s election cycle already underway, many will be evaluating the country’s governance—including the role of law enforcement agencies. …
Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister and Defence Minister travelled to Fairbairn airbase to announce Cabinet had approved the purchase of a further 58 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of $12.4 billion. It should …
It’s ANZAC Day today, when our nation commemorates those who have given their lives or suffered in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. The day itself—25 April—marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought …
Nowadays it’s easy to wonder why there’s a Great in Great Britain. But I’m not sure Harry White’s Canberra Times opinion piece, ‘Britain not a player in Asia’, is entirely on the money. It’s true …
Debate surrounding Australia’s air combat capability has often been emotive and controversial, most recently in relation to Australia’s acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The decision announced on 23 April 2014 to purchase …
Over the past two years, a significant number of Australians have become involved with armed opposition groups in Syria. Some (see here and here) have joined two jihadist organisations proscribed under Australia’s counter terrorism legislation, …
At ASPI’s recent Submarine Conference the strategic rationale for Australia’s Future Submarine (FSM) was only lightly discussed. Presenters stated that the FSM worked best as an ‘offensive platform’ and ‘up threat’. But that issue deserves …
The decision last week to award a Pulitzer Prize to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers for their coverage of classified material leaked by Edward Snowden has refocused attention on the pros and cons of …
Discussions with analysts in Washington over the last couple of weeks have provided a set of insights into how the US think-tank community views the US rebalance to Asia. I asked analysts from prominent think …