The government has accepted sweeping recommendations in a review of Australia’s strategic position and the military capabilities it needs to defend itself, with the main focus on building deterrence through the ability to strike a …
Articles by: "Brendan Nicholson"
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has set out her government’s plan to avert war in the region and maintain peace using all the elements of Australia’s national power including diplomacy and development assistance, underwritten by strong …
Sometimes, says former defence minister Brendan Nelson, ministers must make decisions that run contrary to the advice they receive from their departments. That’s why his concerns about delays in developing the F-35 joint strike fighter …
The carefully staged AUKUS plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) will build increased deterrence as each phase is completed, says former Royal Australian Navy chief Tim Barrett. ‘I think the way it’s been …
Former defence minister Robert Hill says it’s clear now that, in the lead-up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein had complied with UN Security Council orders to dispose of his chemical and …
The extent of the cruelty displayed by Russia’s invaders has shocked the people of Ukraine and deepened their determination to fight for their nation’s survival. Galyna Mykhailiuk, a member of Ukraine’s parliament and a highly …
Former Australian defence minister Ian McLachlan has made a timely plea for genuine bipartisanship in defence planning to provide advice based on experience and to ensure continuity across successive governments. McLachlan, who was defence minister …
Australia’s nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines will be of a new British design, but their reactors, combat systems and heavyweight torpedoes will all be American. After 18 months of intense consultations, details of this massive joint …
To make peacekeeping safer in an increasingly dangerous world, countries contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping efforts need to embrace emerging technology more readily, and they must involve many more women on operations. Today ASPI’s …
Kim Beazley recalls the 1980s when he oversaw a restructuring of Australia’s military establishment comfortable in the knowledge that no major attack was likely in the coming decade. That luxury is gone, he says. Beazley, …
Russia’s war on Ukraine, with its images of helicopters trailing flames, has demonstrated their vulnerability to effective air defences and triggered debate on the future of crewed aircraft sent to penetrate enemy airspace. Former Australian …
A Russian victory in Ukraine would have a grievous impact far beyond its borders, threatening wider global instability, disrupting food and energy security, weakening international institutions and even reducing the world’s ability to deal with …