Welcome back to another round-up of reading picks, podcasts and videos in security and defence. America is not ready to fight today’s ‘grey war’s, says former US Special Operations Commander Eric T. Olsen. Defined as conflicts …
The security challenges across the globe are numerous and complex, and the post-Cold War peace dividend is an increasingly distant memory. I see two main security trends at play. The first is ungoverned spaces and …
It’s been 40 years since a UK defence review meant much to Australia and the Asia–Pacific, but the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, released last month, signals a sea change. …
Having an argument with Jim Molan is enlightening and rewarding. The ex-Major General delivers a triple treat. With Jim, you always know: Where he’s coming from Where he’s aiming And where he’s crunched you With …
In The Longest Conflict: Australia’s Climate Security Challenge, I argued Australia’s ‘longest conflict’ this century would be the struggle to address our climate vulnerabilities at home and abroad. Our national security approach to a changing …
The Beat Flaws in global efforts to counter money laundering A new report on the consultation between Britain’s National Crime Agency and businesses was released this week, which informed the NCA’s recent national risk assessment of money …
Does New Zealand have a more realistic view of its strategic environment than Australia? Given that many hard-headed Australian strategists think that New Zealand freeloads on Australia’s security efforts, even raising such a question will …
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris, we’ve seen a reinvigorated debate about ‘boots on the ground’ in the fight against daesh, and the US is slowly edging towards greater ground operations in …
From 24 to 30 November, the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) convened in The Hague to hear oral arguments on merit in the The Republic of Philippines v The People’s Republic of China case …
Following on from Xi Jinping’s September state visit, Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun met with US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Washington last week to discuss …
In his recent Strategist contribution, David Lang nailed a critical, but sadly missing, dimension of the counter terrorism intelligence debate regarding encryption. David put it perfectly when he argued that encryption is a ‘central contributor …
Public awareness of terrorism fluctuates depending on the proximity and level of terror threat. Terrorism came into sharp focus for Australians with incidents such the 2002 Bali bombings and last year’s Martin Place siege. The …
My last article concluded that one of the risks Australia might face in a more unpredictable future was ‘strike warfare’ by China to coerce Australia as part of intensified strategic competition with the US in …
Sea State Last week in Sydney, the Royal Australian Navy proudly commissioned HMAS Adelaide, second of the landing helicopter docks (LHDs) built by Spanish company Navantia based on the Spanish Armada’s ‘Juan Carlos I’. Permanently …
The launch of the 2015 SDSR provided evidence that UK Defence and Security agencies are being re-invigorated after a period of extensive cuts. Over the next ten years £178 billion will be spent on a …
The grand power shifts currently taking place in the Asia–Pacific are likely to gradually draw Indonesia and Australia closer together in order to face common strategic challenges. Elements of the bilateral relationship will probably remain …
The half-way mark in a marathon is always a testy time. So too is the mid-way point of the Paris climate negotiations. The speeches by 150 heads of state on the opening day of the …
Last week Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled the UK’s latest Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). As usual it was numbers in terms of money and kit that caught the media’s attention. But the bigger …
The case for Australia joining ASEAN will have to be embraced by both sides. Here’s the ‘Yes’ case from ASEAN’s perspective. The first three columns in this series were Canberra-centric, establishing why Australia should seek …
The late edition of ASPI Suggests kicks off with US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s announcement on Thursday that all combat roles were now open to women. The US military has 30 days to enact the decision with no …