If the First Principles Review of Defence goes back to first principles, it’ll have to examine the diarchy wherein Defence is jointly headed by the Secretary and CDF. That’s likely to occur given that one …
The recent debate over coalition strategy against ISIL has reawakened a related question: whether to support rebel groups in Syria in their fight against ISIL and Bashar al-Assad, and if so how? Even former US …
The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted 15-0 last week to adopt Resolution 2178 on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs). While Obama’s accompanying speech promised that the US and allied partners would dismantle and then destroy …
More than one billion of the world’s seven billion people live in failed or failing states. Why and how do failed states recover and why haven’t the lessons of state failure over the past sixty …
Through the Suharto years, the economists were optimistic about Indonesia and the political scientists were pessimistic. Now the roles have reversed. With the explosion of Indonesian democracy, the political types can hardly contain their joy …
It’s a Family & Community Day public holiday here in Canberra so we’ll be back tomorrow with our usual considered analysis, stats and graphs for your reading pleasure. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for something to read, …
For something non-ISIS related, David Envall argues that if Japan continues to overextend national security reforms, it could undermine the government’s ability to undertake economic changes. Also on Japan, Koichi Nakano writes on East Asia …
The recent instances of ‘home-grown’ terrorism and terrorism-related activities provide a useful basis upon which to reiterate some important dynamics of contemporary global terrorism. The disrupted plan in Sydney, and the more recent incident in Melbourne …
Andrew Davies raised some interesting issues regarding the possible acquisition of Japanese submarines for Australia in his recent post, ‘Getting the submarine we want’. I’d like to take a closer look at the suitability of …
Africa’s more stable than ever before. The continent’s economy is growing faster than any other’s. According to International Monetary Fund figures, 10 of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies are located in Africa. The continent’s population …
With a population of around 250 million, Indonesia is the world’s third-largest developing country. What’s less well-known is that Indonesia is the de facto leader of ASEAN, a key regional grouping with a population of over …
In the first post in this series, I argued that Islamic State (IS) is neither a terrorist organisation nor unique as some claim, and that it’s better seen as an insurgency. In the second post, …
We’ve had two timely contributions to the current defence policy debate in Australia: the first by ANU’s Professor Hugh White; and the second by Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group. Starting with …
As Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, prepares officially to begin his term later next month, there remains a degree of uncertainty regarding the future policy settings of his administration both at home …
We’re at the Land Forces 2014 conference this week. Even a casual glance around the floor of the associated trade show suggests immediately that there’s some serious positioning going on among vehicle manufacturers to supply …
It’d be easy for the public to believe that al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism is a new feature of the African security landscape, yet the ideology, personnel and links between groups have been growing for the past 25 years. …
Last month marked the centenary of the first shots of the Great War. This month, last Saturday to be precise, marks the centenary of the inauguration of a crucial element in the way that Australia …
Some key elements have yet to embrace the idea of Australia and Japan as allies. Two groups not to have noticed or still to be convinced are the peoples of Japan and Australia. Fair enough, …
Welcome back for another serve of new reports, podcasts and events to attend for the defence and security enthusiast. Kicking off today is Trevor Wilson on East Asia Forum who provocatively argues that the ‘Indo-Pacific’ …
Cracks are already starting to show in the Government’s strange haste to commit Australian troops and aircraft to war in Iraq, and the equally confused messaging about how we are meant to respond to the …