Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has not only accelerated the erosion of the international order but also deepened its partnership with China. Beijing has made clear it does not want the war to end and …
Once a breakthrough landmark in recognising women’s disproportionate experiences of conflict and their essential role in peace and security, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) is being sidelined by …
The 2025 Helsinki Geoeconomics Week, held from 11 to 15 August, confirmed a sobering reality: economic power is now inextricably linked to national security and strategic competition. The shifting tectonic plates of geopolitics are grinding …
The Korean Peninsula is one of the most volatile flashpoints in global security. North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, coupled with its deepening ties to Russia and China, present a growing challenge to the …
For Fiji, hedging is not just survival, but a way of shaping its role as a confident, independent actor in the Blue Pacific. By engaging everyone while committing to no one, Fiji extracts maximum benefit, …
A landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Australia came into force last week. Negotiated within the space of just nine months, it is Australia’s first free trade agreement with any …
Debate over the Pukpuk treaty has focused on China and whether Australia’s military might one day use Papua New Guinea’s geography or fight alongside PNG forces in a regional contingency involving Beijing and Washington. But …
A patrol boat shadows an unflagged vessel near a cable landing station in the Pacific. There’s no nearby base. No time to escalate. But a single secure message, sent from a handheld device, alerts regional …
The path to a truly safe and secure Indo-Pacific is not just through military interoperability; it requires a more holistic and enduring form of statecraft that recognises food security as a foundation of cooperation. A …
Australia relies on rugby as a key diplomatic instrument in the Pacific. However, the influence of sport depends not only on how much it invests but also on where, how and with whom those investments …
Whoever wins this weekend’s contest to lead Japan’s ruling party could throw Australia the lifeline it desperately needs to secure the future of AUKUS Pillar One amid doubts about the program’s viability. A submarine program …
Australia’s northern air bases are vital to national defence, yet improving their resilience remains a work in progress. And the progress is incremental. This isn’t a new task. The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR), putting …
As Defence prepares the 2026 National Defence Strategy, Mungalulu Truscott Airbase should be recognised as a multi-user critical infrastructure asset—a forward node complementing Darwin that enables logistics, personnel dispersal and operational resilience across northern Western …
Japan, India and Australia’s converging interests would be fortified by a Japan-ASEAN-Australia-India economic corridor championed by the United States. Japan and India—the world’s fourth- and fifth-largest economies, respectively—are determinedly deepening their bilateral partnership amid Chinese …
The world was riveted on 3 September by Beijing’s parade of 12,000 troops from the Chinese armed forces, especially by their latest-tech kit on display. This is a manifestly modern-looking army. But that’s not good …
Australia’s security risks are sharpest where people and technology meet. This is the space where data flows, disinformation spreads and innovation thrives—and where defences can be breached. Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy recognises that lasting protection …
Zbigniew Brzezinski was a lifelong Cold War hawk who was deeply suspicious of the Soviet Union. The invasion of Poland by Russian and German troops in 1939 left a lasting impression on the young immigrant, …
In 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 and established the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. This formally recognised not only the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, but also …
The Indo-Pacific’s networked deterrence architecture must evolve into an institutionalised, combined joint mechanism that can harness the collective power of like-minded nations. Without change, a coalition approach will fail to deter threats to sovereignty and …
Artificial intelligence and its ability to perform intellectual tasks previously the preserve of humans are improving at a stunning rate, and yet we are complacent or politically paralysed in the face of this transformation. The …