This week I attended the inaugural Fullerton Forum in Singapore, hosted by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, who described it as the ‘Sherpa’s meeting’ for the Shangri-La Dialogue at the end of May. The …
I explained yesterday how the fear of driving Fiji into China’s arms has been wrongly used by what I call the ‘appeasement lobby’ as a reason to lessen the isolation of Fiji’s regime. It isn’t …
North Korea’s latest nuclear test has been discussed from several angles: the level of technological progress of the regime; if China should and will end its support for its neighbour; and whether tougher sanctions by …
Australian policy on Fiji is shifting to appeasement in ways that will gladden the military regime and sadden Fijians. What might be called the Bainimarama appeasement lobby—broadly speaking a group of academics and journalists who …
Since at least 1950 Australia’s defence policy has been predicated on US military strength. It behoves us, therefore, to keep a close eye on US defence policy. In one sense, recent developments are encouraging. The …
There’s been a lot of discussion about escalating tension between China and Japan. Over at East Asia Forum, Sourabh Gupta looks at what an agreement over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands might look like. On the same …
Marcus Fielding’s response to my force structure post raises several interesting points, in particular, that ‘…it’s entirely appropriate for Australia to restructure to be able to lead and provide force-level support to regional coalitions.’ In …
Brendan Taylor provides an eloquent critique of Ben Scheer’s recent post, but I don’t think I can agree with him. In his desire to ‘soften’ his former colleague’s line on China’s recent actions in the …
Recent incidents between Chinese and Japanese warships and aircraft in the East China Sea have renewed interest in confidence-building measures (CBMs) to prevent potential conflict. The situation is getting serious up there: Japan alleges that a Chinese frigate locked its fire-control …
Welcome back for our pick of the defence and security world’s articles over the past week and listing of interesting events. Navy and fleet sizes The US Navy has reduced its fleet requirement from 313 …
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of cyber security, and it’s been a period that defines the discussion in new ways. Not only did the New York Times directly accuse the …
At first glance, it appears that the recent election results in Japan and the early policy pronouncements of the Abe government indicate that Japan has shifted significantly to the right and that this will increase …