The East Timor crisis presented Australia with a unique opportunity to act like a real regional middle power. For a long time Australia has been a middle power with small power pretensions. East Timor made …
Researchers in Singapore have demonstrated how hackers can use a smartphone mounted on a drone to steal data intended for wireless printers. The technology detects an insecure printer and intercepts documents by establishing a fake …
Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his first state visit to the US from 22 to 25 September. On the eve of Xi’s visit, I wrote that Beijing was carefully managing the expectations of the visit, …
I noted with interest and bemusement that the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade has announced an inquiry into the capability of Defence’s physical sciences and engineering (PSE) workforce. I’m interested because in …
There’s only one question in defence circles today: Will Malcolm Turnbull retain Tony Abbott’s commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence in 2023, and if so, in what form? Prior to the leadership change, …
Sea State Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has detailed ambitious efforts to modernise the navy’s nuclear-powered submarines. Moscow is modernising 12 nuclear-powered submarines, with the boats intended to serve another 20 years. The modernisation effort is intended …
Australia should join the Association of South East Asian Nations. And to promote this big call even higher up the mountain to be climbed, Australia will become a member of ASEAN. The ‘should’ and ‘will’ …
Today is another public holiday in Canberra. Team Strategist will be back tomorrow to bring you more considered analysis on Australia’s defence and security issues after a short break. Image courtesy of Flickr user Willy …
It hasn’t been a great week for the US in the Middle East. Russia began a controversial campaign of airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday, aiming to target ISIS forces but not quite getting there. The …
Seemingly random events can cause surprising discontinuities. Strategists commonly monitor bellicose national leaders, military arm-wrestling and armed provocation as the harbingers of strategic discontinuity. But, as Philip Bobbitt demonstrates so cogently in his Shield of …
Sixteen years ago, Australia was on the brink of a major confrontation with Indonesia. A United Nations peacekeeping mission to the Indonesian province of East Timor, which was pushing for independence, had the potential to …
As the drum roll fades following the swearing in of Australia’s first ever female Defence Minister, I’m left wondering what we should now expect. While Senator Payne is the first ‘femmindef’ for Australia, she joins …
The Beat AFP Future Directions AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin used his first meeting with new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to draw attention to the AFP Future Directions Project; the first blueprint setting the agency’s future …
Publications often view the South China Sea as a source of constant security tension whereas analysis of scientific cooperation in the region, on the other hand, is rare, thinly spread and short. However, scientific cooperation …
The Government has recently announced a rolling build strategy for building future frigates and corvettes; given my recent post on this subject I think this is a sensible step, even though there are overseas production …
This was never going to be an easy meeting between the leaders of one of the oldest democracies and the world’s largest dictatorship. The two countries have an increasingly conflicted relationship: on the one hand, …
President Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated state visit to Washington DC took place last weekend with cyber security featuring prominently on the agenda—as expected. During Xi’s first official state visit, he and President Obama reached agreement on …
Early on the morning of 1 October 1965, seven detachments of troops drove through the quiet streets of Jakarta, bound for the homes of the most senior generals of the Indonesian army. On arrival, the …
It’s time to review the arguments for 12 next generation submarines; the more so because eight seems to be the conventional wisdom of the day! Any consideration on this subject should start with why Australia …
Sea State Competition between the three contenders for the replacement of the Royal Navy’s Collins-class submarines has started to heat up with Japan now revealing its willingness to build the submarines in Australia despite previous …