Planet A A sustained mouse plague has consumed grain and hay stocks and damaged machinery on thousands of Australian farms this year, reducing the country’s overall crop value by an estimated $1 billion. While rodent …
On 1 July, the Chinese Communist Party will stage a patriotic extravaganza to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. Among the achievements it will celebrate is the Baihetan Dam, located on the Jinsha River …
References to Iran have been glaringly absent from commentary on the clash between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, even though two primary terrorist organisations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have effusively praised Tehran and its …
The success of Operation Ironside, led by the Australian Federal Police with a host of international partner agencies, hinged on the use of a messaging app thought by criminals to be encrypted. The numerous arrests …
As the military struggles to stamp out opposition on the streets and in the mountains, there is almost no good news coming out of Myanmar right now. Yet, in early June, the National Unity Government …
In 2020, Asia—especially East Asia—was often touted as a model of effective pandemic response. While Western countries endured harsh lockdowns and soaring infection and death rates, Asian countries largely kept the coronavirus under control. But …
Australia confronts a new and compounding set of security challenges. Traditional modes of geopolitics are giving way to sharper styles of statecraft, whether in the form of economic coercion, cyber espionage, disinformation or the weaponisation …
Publicly revealed by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) in 2019, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project—the Digital Currency Electronic Payment, or DCEP—is an early-stage endeavour to rewire the global economic system using emerging …
Amid enormous domestic and foreign-policy challenges, the oil-rich, but US sanctioned, Islamic Republic of Iran is scheduled to hold its 13th presidential election on Friday. The voters will have a choice between seven male candidates who …
The Swiss government’s recent withdrawal from long-running negotiations on a framework agreement with the European Union has triggered a deep crisis in relations. For the EU, the fallout is manageable: economic relations will erode but …
In 2019, Russia employed an intelligence-gathering satellite to make a close approach—known as a rendezvous and proximity operation, or RPO—with a US spy satellite. The incident lasted for several days as Russia’s Cosmos 2542 released …
Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline conservative, is widely predicted to be elected as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s successor in elections scheduled for 18 June. But the vote won’t just determine the country’s next president; it’s also …
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue has been the venue for the most visible foreign policy signalling on the Indo-Pacific from US President Joe Biden since he assumed office in January. In March, Biden convened the first …
Human beings approaching the age of 100 normally think about death. But political parties celebrating their centennials, as the Chinese Communist Party will on 1 July, are obsessed with immortality. Such optimism seems odd for …
ASPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. This series looks at ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. Created to both know and kick the Department of Defence, ASPI pursues this part of its …
It’s the Queen’s Birthday public holiday (even if it’s not her actual birthday) here in Canberra and in most of the rest of Australia. That means we’re taking the day off from normal duties and …
At 4 am on 8 May, 20 heavily armed militants occupied a public market at Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, in the southern Philippines. Abu Jihad, the group’s spokesperson, claimed that they were from the Karilalan faction …
Now more than ever Australia needs to be innovative, and our science and technology base is the key to driving national innovation. While our Covid-19 experience has reminded decision-makers to value and trust expert scientific …
Recently, national security debates in the United States and Australia have been heavily focused on the possibility of conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Strategist’s Anastasia Kapetas is joined by Ryan Hass, senior fellow at …
Soon, Benjamin Netanyahu will no longer be Israel’s prime minister. After 12 years in power, what kind of country will he leave behind? Netanyahu wasn’t always the irremediable hawk that his opponents (especially outside Israel) …