Yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison lambasted social media platforms for enabling abusive and aggressive comments from anonymous users. Calling social media a ‘coward’s palace’, the prime minister said that ‘Cowards who go anonymously onto social …
Sea state HMS Queen Elizabeth has re-entered the South China Sea despite warnings from China. The ship leads Britain’s carrier strike group on its global tour designed to showcase post-Brexit ‘Global Britain’ through more than …
In the weeks since the Taliban’s theocratic terrorists returned to power in Kabul, the people of Afghanistan, particularly its women and girls, have been subjected to unimaginable suffering as the world’s attention turns to other …
In 2017, the Australian Institute of Criminology estimated that the cost of serious and organised crime to Australia in 2016–17 was around $47.4 billion. A more recent estimate isn’t available, but all things being equal, …
Amid the commentary on Australia’s handling of France over the decision to switch to nuclear-powered submarines, Canberra’s treatment of another close partner and the reaction that has caused have received relatively scant attention. The Australian …
When the Australian parliament passed the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2021 (SLAID) in August, research institutes and news media voiced concerns about an erosion of civil liberties—for just a few days. The …
The Taliban victory and the American exit from Afghanistan have shuffled the pack in the region in multiple ways. Several of Afghanistan’s neighbours with major stakes in the country have reacted to these developments with …
In a world largely inured to shocks, the announcement that Australia, in partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom, would acquire nuclear-powered submarines was a bombshell. We haven’t over-egged this development—it was dramatic. …
What’s the essence of the US–Australia alliance? For the late Des Ball, it lay in close intelligence cooperation. Many would point to Article IV of the ANZUS Treaty, which commits both countries ‘to meet the …
The AUKUS partnership opens up new opportunities for promoting deeper information and technology sharing, integrating security- and defence-related science and technology, and building industrial bases and supply chains. In addition to the momentous decision for …
Police leaders and academics often analyse what policing looks like now and what its future will or should be. I would argue that policing must change to maintain and to improve its relationship with broader …
As US President Joe Biden’s administration implements its strategy of great-power competition with China, analysts seek historical metaphors to explain the deepening rivalry. But while many invoke the onset of the Cold War, a more …
Within weeks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will almost certainly announce an Australian commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He will do so with an eye to the domestic politics of the upcoming …
Australia has a lot riding on the success of the Chinese authorities in containing the fallout from financially troubled developer Evergrande on China’s property market more generally. China’s property developers account for an astounding 20% …
The diplomatic tug-of-war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States over restoration of the Iran nuclear agreement (officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) seems almost perennial. The …
In the four years since AUSTRAC’s enforcement action against Australia’s largest gambling company, Tabcorp, anti-money-laundering compliance has been in the spotlight. There’s now much more awareness of how financial intelligence on child exploitation, organised crime …
September marked a new year in the Jewish calendar, for schools in the northern hemisphere, and in the realm of diplomacy, with the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. New years are duly …
ASPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. This series looks at ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. The list of 14 grievances issued last year by China’s embassy in Canberra had one point …
It’s Labour Day here in Canberra, so The Strategist team is taking a short break. We’ll be back tomorrow with our usual full schedule of strategic analysis and commentary.
Australia’s decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines—and the decisions by the UK and US to support that endeavour—is momentous. If we’re looking for reliable and considered judgements about why and how it came about, we need …