The three years of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a terrible loss of life and exacerbated health inequalities. The global economy slumped, and, worldwide, people’s lives were affected. This experience demonstrated that the present global …
Beneath the deeply domestic dimensions of any annual budget lies Canberra’s view of the world. The fiscal flashlight of spending and saving (and now subsidising) naturally catches the eye of every Australian taxpayer. Those taxpayers …
The Albanese government has unveiled its third budget. Our experts across defence, cybersecurity and technology, the Pacific, climate and critical minerals give their first impressions of what the budget has to offer—and what’s missing. …
The Australian federal budget shows defence will receive a significant increase in funding over the next decade under the new National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Plan. The budget papers, issued on 14 May, include …
A well-worn yarn in defence industry circles is the tale of the apocalyptic Last Supper of 1993. Then-US defense secretary Les Aspin called chief executives from the major prime contractors to a secret dinner at …
The Australian Defence Force is working on countering small, cheap drones, but the challenges are daunting, with drone technology constantly evolving to sidestep anti-drone measures. Domestic legal obstacles don’t help. A specific acquisition project, LAND …
Economic diversification is exposing Pacific islands countries to new criminal threats, according to the latest report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. The countries have implemented regulations and policies in tax regimes and …
At the Chinese Communist Party congress in October 2017, ‘Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era’ was formally incorporated in the party constitution—alongside Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory, Jiang …
Cooperating to strengthen Japan’s cyber defences and develop new offensive cyberweapons must be the first priority of any AUKUS collaboration involving Japan. Not only is this now key to Japan’s security, but it is a …
As Japan becomes more forward-leading in national security, it is signaling a greater interest in the wider world. But a review of its latest moves shows its main focus is on reinforcing its armed forces, …
TikTok is now one of the biggest stories in business and geopolitics. US President Joe Biden has just signed a law that will ban the massively popular app in nine months if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does …
Kim Beazley was appointed as Minister for Defence on 13 December 1984. He oversaw a revolution in Australian defence, as profoundly important in shaping the nation as were the economic reforms of the time. His …
Australia’s failure to prioritise acquisition of surface-to-air systems for missile defence is alarming. We need such equipment as part of our measures for facing one of our most demanding threats—China’s large inventory of conventional and …
Australia must do more to end impunity for conflict-related sexual violence. Recent legislation allowing the repudiation of citizenship as part of a wider effort against people who engage in terrorism effectively excludes perpetrators of conflict-related …
As Japan steps up military cooperation with the United States and Australia in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific, the Northern Territory is becoming strategically more important. From it, forces can reach into the Indian or Pacific …
When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month in an effort to stabilise relations with China, many of the issues that he discussed with Chinese President Xi Jinping were highly contentious. For …
Economists hate it, and nationalists yearning for the Australia of yore love it. The Albanese government’s A Future Made in Australia policy will need to be understood with a bit more nuance than its name …
Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, and with European Parliament elections looming, the narrow passage last month of the European Union’s Migrant and Asylum Pact has attracted relatively little attention. To be sure, the agreement is more remarkable …
Western analysts risk overestimating China’s emergence as an Arctic power, spurred by fears that they initially neglected the reappearance of the Arctic as a theatre for strategic competition. Contrary to such alarmist views, Beijing is …
Australia has all but institutionalised self-censorship in intellectual strategic thought. An absence of secure academic positions, widening of the policy-scholarly divide, and a corrosive culture of in-fighting over a piece of the same (dwindling) funding …