As 2021 dragged to an exhausting end, the international strategic outlook remained bleak. Authoritarian regimes are threatening conflict in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The key democracies look distracted, internally riven and unwilling to …
Editors’ picks for 2021: ‘Limiting the nuclear-proliferation blowback from the AUKUS submarine deal’
Originally published 21 September 2021. If the architects of the AUKUS pact and its headline initiative to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines imagined it would be seen as proliferation neutral, the reality might not be …
Originally published 12 March 2021. There’s one thing we’re all getting wrong about TikTok: it’s not really a social media app. As TikTok Australia’s general manager told the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media in September …
Originally published 16 April 2021. The war in Afghanistan has profoundly changed the Australian Army and had a significant impact on the whole defence force. Around 30,000 ADF personnel served in Afghanistan and 41 died …
Originally published 4 March 2021. One of the joys of fatherhood is being reacquainted with the fairy tales and fables of youth. Such stories endure because behind their superficial narratives lies an important moral theme …
Originally published 27 July 2021. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has just arrived in Singapore, where he’ll deliver a major address on Indo-Pacific security. He’s the first member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet to …
Originally published 28 October 2021. In September, Chile became the first state in the world to pass legislation regulating the use of neurotechnology. The ‘neuro-rights’ law aims to protect mental privacy, free will of thought and personal identity. The …
Editors’ picks for 2021: ‘Australia’s nuclear submarine decision leaves more questions than answers’
Originally published 30 September 2021. It is correct, as former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has asserted, that few of the questions raised by the government’s announcement that Australia will acquire nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs) have been answered. …
After yet another very long year, The Strategist team is taking a short break. Starting on Monday 27 December, we’ll be republishing a selection of our favourite articles from the year. Thank you for reading …
Former defence minister Kim Beazley has delivered a sobering comparison between how Australia dealt with the lead-up to World War II and the complex and deteriorating strategic situation it faces now. Now governor of Western …
Australia may have a way of very cheaply and quickly expanding its submarine force, improving its defences this decade and preparing for its planned nuclear-powered boats. We might do this by buying good second-hand submarines …
Russian rhetoric on a military confrontation with Ukraine has ratcheted up this week, with President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu continuing to develop justifications for an invasion. According to some analysts, the pace …
Analysis of footage of tennis star Peng Shuai released by Chinese state media indicates that government officials may have orchestrated the coverage. On 2 November, Peng used Chinese social-media site Weibo to accuse former Chinese …
The final in the series on ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. ‘With a certain youthful precocity, ASPI has injected new ideas and vigour into our national security debate.’ — Prime Minister John …
Australia is ending the year in much better shape than we ended 2020. That’s so even though our region is still a dangerous place, and an aggressive China under Xi Jinping continues to be the …
Just two years after the last one was published, Malaysia has launched a new foreign policy framework, aptly titled ‘Focus in continuity: a framework for Malaysia’s foreign policy in a post-pandemic world’. With the challenges …
As reports pile up about Russia’s military mobilisation on Ukraine’s border and the Kremlin’s diplomatic demands, questions abound. What is going on? What will come next? Will Russia invade? In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin …
By a range of measures, democracy is under pressure around the globe. Not only is democracy failing to make inroads in states long dominated by authoritarian regimes, but it is in retreat in some places …
In August last year, Olaf Scholz—then Germany’s finance minister and now its chancellor—attempted to persuade the Trump administration to drop its proposed sanctions on the companies building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia …
As great-power competition intensifies, the role of deterrence and the potential for escalation have taken on renewed importance in the security calculations of Australia and other US allies. How to manage deterrence and escalation is …