ASPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. This series looks at ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. Quad 1.0 had a tentative start and then crashed. Reborn in 2017, Quad 2.0 has had …
If the Australian government is serious about tackling trolls, it may need to start giving some thought to the latest effort of Russian President Vladimir Putin and what it says implicitly about Australia’s standing in …
This year marks the 80th anniversary of Australia’s war with France. It is largely forgotten, but the facts are simply these. Vichy France, under the leadership of Marshal Philippe Petain, was collaborationist in nature and …
Australia is up with the best in the science of quantum computing, with the leaders, the scientists and the results. But new approaches are needed to address deficiencies in its defence and intelligence technology. In …
The recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and the ongoing negotiations over US President Joe Biden’s social infrastructure bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, share an important feature. At the heart of …
Video testimonials from Uyghurs saying they’re content with the economic opportunities provided for them through Chinese Communist Party re-education programs; promotion of Xinjiang as an idyllic tourism destination; commentary on the positive impact of CCP …
In more normal times, when nuclear-powered submarines and multibillion-dollar contract cancellations didn’t dominate the news, plans to increase the US military presence operating out of Australia would be big news. It was swamped by the …
Two recent foreign policy developments in Canberra are shaping Australia’s 21st-century national security agenda. The first is the AUKUS agreement, which has at its core a deep and strategically courageous commitment to deterring China’s malign, …
In the debate about what AUKUS is and what it might become, much has been made of the idea that in an era of heightened geopolitical competition, Australia possesses some of the Indo-Pacific’s most valuable …
Many observers have long assumed that the future of geopolitics will be decided in a sea battle over the Taiwan Strait or some rocky outcrop or atoll in the South China Sea. Yet we could …
The Australian government recently published its updated guidelines to counter foreign interference in the university sector, declaring that ‘All universities are subject to foreign interference risks’. And last month, at ASPI’s inaugural Sydney Dialogue, Prime …
First, ditch the notion of building in Adelaide. Construction in Australia is the single factor that cripples Australia’s plan to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. It’s the sole reason why delivery of the first …
Sea state German frigate FGS Bayern joined Japan’s annual large-scale joint exercise alongside vessels from the Australian, Canadian and US navies, marking Germany’s first exercise in the Indo-Pacific in two decades. During Australia’s last maritime …
Think tanks are a familiar feature of the public-policy landscape in Australia, along with television epidemiologists and dyspeptic former prime ministers. But the idea of an independent, non-government institution, established specifically to study a particular …
The vastness of Eurasia is becoming bracketed by belligerence. On the western front, Russia has deployed a growing number of military units to the regions near its border with Ukraine, inviting a flurry of speculation …
Hugh White seems seized by anxiety in his latest and arguably most pessimistic assessment of US–China tensions over Taiwan and the strategic choices facing Australia. White argues that the risk of war between the US …
While environmentalists have welcomed the Australian government’s decision to abandon the Davis aerodrome project in Antarctica, China is likely now drafting its own year-round aviation plans for the site. Canberra had already completed much of …
After eight weeks of negotiations, Germany has a new government. For the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor, the much-anticipated coalition agreement augurs nothing less than a revitalised progressive Mitte, or …
Echoes and omens abound as Australia steps in to stop riot, arson and looting in a South Pacific capital. Honiara offers a reprise of previous tragedy that’s a grim foretaste of the future facing Melanesia. …
The Chinese Communist Party’s foreign influence work is not reduced to one single dedicated organ; instead, state, party and military agencies have fronts that engage in influence operations and are led by CCP’s top leadership. …