Deep into the Press Club foreign affairs debate a faint ticking started—the hint of a time-bomb in Australia–Indonesia relations. The Indonesia time-bomb wasn’t directly mentioned, just hinted. That is apt because Australia’s international relations have …
The journalist questions in the Oz election debate on foreign policy started with the South China Sea and ended on China’s suppression of internal dissent. As with the defence debate last week, China throbs. In …
Happy the democracy waging an election with little argument about foreign affairs and defence. The outside world isn’t pressing too hard. The threats are far off and chances are good. A democracy that dwells inward …
The defence discussion in the Australia election is calm and agreeable in tone—except for China. The Turnbull government doesn’t want to push too hard on the South China Sea, while the Labor opposition is more …
The threats to Asia’s future peace of mind: China versus the US, the South China Sea, North Korea—and then there’s Trump. The Donald is a powerful reminder of the fundamental duality in Asia’s responses to …
China came to the Shangri-La Dialogue to both romance and rumble. The language of regional romance jars mightily with the grouchy belligerence over the South China Sea. The rich suitor came wooing with honey words, …
When Australia discusses China without mentioning China directly, it talks of the need for a ‘rules-based’ order. In the Defence White Paper which Canberra issued in February, ‘rules’ is used 64 times—48 of these in …
Asia long ago took to heart Churchill’s admonition that it’s better to jaw-jaw than war-war. A lot of talking goes on around here. And the jaw-jaw intensity has risen as Asia confronts a long slope …
The media philosophy offered in this series is the belief that in the Media Age the more you give the more you make. The continuous flow of honest news—good and bad—from the Australian Defence Force …
War and truth seldom sit comfortably together. To go to battle is not to go to Sunday school. So to proclaim that the Media Age motto for the Australian Defence Force and the Defence Department …
The communications demands of the Media Age are so diverse and complex that only a simple answer will suffice. This is back-to-basics meets back-to-the future. Head to the bedrock of first principles while everything else …
The terrain of the Media Age is a networked series of places—both land and a land of the mind. The borders are ever more porous. A vital part of the terrain is still occupied by …