‘The future is always beginning now.’ — Mark Strand The AUKUS agreement announced in September marks a milestone in Australia’s national security posture that will be felt for decades to come. It will shape how …
Another year, same pandemic. Welcome to The Strategist’s round-up of the top 10 articles of 2021. As it was in 2020, not one of the pieces that made the list was focused on the not-so-novel …
‘Serving as minister of foreign affairs is not an easy task,’ said Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, in conversation with ASPI Executive Director Peter Jennings. ‘Somebody joked that the president must dislike me very much …
The new German government’s response to the evolving situation between Russia and Ukraine has been both underwhelming and complicated. Along with responding to the recent spike in Covid-19, peaking at well over 100,000 new cases …
Biden’s defence and national security strategies will make or break US response to global challenges
As US President Joe Biden enters his second year in office, his administration is expected to soon release a slew of strategic documents that will set out how it will approach and respond to a …
The Yemen conflict is now a decade old. It keeps taking on a wider dimension, with no relief in sight for the suffering Yemeni people. All peace-brokering efforts have failed to produce any tangible results, …
After a long, mysterious silence, US President Joe Biden has spoken out about the ever-increasing concentration of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. He would have been better off keeping quiet, given his astonishing and …
The immediate significance of Friday’s AUKMIN gathering in Sydney was that it took place while a Russian military assault on Ukraine is imminent. Given the threat from Moscow, no one would have been surprised had …
On the politics of climate change, Australia crawls slowly from the cave. To mix the cave metaphor, we’ve passed peak troglodyte. Light has pierced the dark. Troglodytes still growl and glower, but those who ignore …
Few regions in the world wobble the tension of the tightrope governments walk between raw interests and principle in foreign and strategic policy more than Central America. And few have mattered less to Canberra over …
As the Defence Department’s deputy secretary for strategy between 2009 and 2012, I asked US counterparts on three occasions about the likelihood they would share submarine nuclear-propulsion technology. The answer was the same each time: …
September 2021 marked 90 years since the Manchurian crisis, when the Imperial Japanese Army attacked and proceeded to occupy the Chinese province of Manchuria. This action precipitated the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo …
The political and strategic ramifications of the AUKUS pact involving the US, UK and Australia continue to reverberate, but the details of how Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) have often been overlooked. There are …
In a qualifying match last November for the 2022 soccer World Cup, Iran trailed Lebanon 0–1 at the end of the scheduled 90 minutes. On social media, sceptical Iranians were getting ready to blame their …
It was Prime Minister Robert Menzies who told President Lyndon B. Johnson bluntly but accurately what the simple requirement happened to be for an effective US ambassador to Australia. The ambassador had to have the …
Editors’ note: This piece was originally published in November 2019; we are republishing it in light of the Indonesian parliament’s passing of key legislation for the creation of the new capital and President Joko Widodo’s …
As 2021 drew to a close, Russia had massed troops near its border with Ukraine, China had flown military jets near Taiwan, North Korea was still pursuing its nuclear-weapons program, and Taliban fighters were patrolling …
Remarks by Australia’s prime minister and defence minister and discussions in Washington about the future of US security policy in the Taiwan Strait highlight a growing consensus among like-minded partners about the need to respond …
As Italy scrambles to control surging Covid-19 infections—including by making vaccination compulsory for anyone over 50—cracks are appearing in the broad ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi. A crucial test will come next …
During a pandemic, some in Australia may argue that any excess defence funding should be allocated to rapid antigen tests and a creaking hospital system. But there’s good reason to ensure funding is held to …