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After almost two years as Executive Editor of The Strategist, it’s time for me to hand the reins over to my colleague Rod Lyon. With the team of Natalie Sambhi and Kristy Bryden in place to support Rod, I’m confident that this blog will be in good hands.

I’ll be putting my efforts towards my military capability studies and towards my contributions to the defence white paper ministerial advisory panel. And that’s the main reason for a change.

The white paper is going to be one of 2014’s major policy developments in areas of ASPI’s remit and it’s important that The Strategist continues to be a place where views on the content of the white paper can be aired and debated in as open a fashion as possible. If the experience of previous white papers ^[2] is anything to go by, we’re talking about policies that will still be having a financial and capability impact decades from now. It’s important to get that right.

And I’m as confident in the ability of our readers to argue the merits of various approaches as I am in the editorial team to select and present them. I’m sure there are fun times ahead.

I’ll still be writing for The Strategist (sorry to disappoint), but on topics other than the white paper. Finally, thanks to the readers and contributors who’ve taken the time to share their views with me during my tenure. Your efforts were always valued.

Andrew Davies is now “only” senior analyst for defence capability and director of research at ASPI. Image courtesy of Flickr user jessicamulley ^[3].