I was in Malaysia last week at the 2nd Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum, and on Friday I reported on the outcomes of the Conference on Maritime Confidence Building Measures (MCBMs) in the South China Sea that …
At a time when Australian attention obsesses with China to the dangerous exclusion of much else, one of the quiet success stories in growing bilateral relations has been between the United States and India. In …
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s visit to Indonesia, starting on 30 September, will set the tone for the bilateral relationship, at least for the first term of the Coalition Government. The stakes are high: Mr Abbott …
At some point towards the end of the year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott will face one of the biggest diplomatic tests of his new administration: his government’s first Australia—United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) meeting. These annual …
Since the April 2013 publication of my previous post on Antarctica, two events have added further to the picture of Australia’s strategic interests in Antarctica. The first was the release of a new defence white …
President Barack Obama’s 10 September address to the American people about Syria continues to send confused messages about the administration’s plans. Obama reasserts his authority to authorise a strike following the Assad regime’s use of …
President Obama’s bizarre choice to give Congress a right to veto a strike on Syria effectively confirms lame-duck status on the rest of his Presidency. He has around 1200 days left in office, a long …
On 29 August, ASPI will host ‘the Great Defence Debate’ in Canberra between Mike Kelly, the Minister for Defence Materiel—who has been named by Kevin Rudd as Defence Minister should Labor be re-elected—and the Opposition …
Visiting the troops deployed overseas has been a tradition for Australian politicians at least as far back as June 1916, when Billy Hughes travelled to the Western Front and met soldiers shortly before the appalling …
The Cyber White Paper, originally promised for release in the first half of 2012, has been delayed several times. In October last year, responsibility for its production was quietly transferred from the Prime Minister’s Department …
Bang on time to complement ASPI’s extended debate about the anglosphere, a senior dialogue of Homeland Security Ministers from the five eyes countries (the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) was held this week …
In a recent article in the Security Challenges Journal, I set out the case for analysing Defence White Papers in their political contexts. These statements are as much about the contest of politics as they …