Given the scale of the threats Australia may face in an uncertain future, the nation needs to seriously reconsider how it will defend itself, strategist Albert Palazzo has warned. That will mean a major switch …
It’s been a year and a half since we started living with—and too often dying from—Covid-19. Although the pandemic is by no means over, it’s not too soon to take a step back and draw …
In this special episode for Africa Day, ASPI’s Lisa Sharland speaks to Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Martin Kimani. They discuss Kenya’s role on the UN Security Council, multilateralism via Zoom and counterterrorism. …
ASPI celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. This series looks at ASPI’s work since its creation in August 2001. When ASPI was launched, intense argument raged between Australia’s regionalists and globalists. Old arguments took on …
Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern will prove the Australia–New Zealand travel bubble works when they meet in Queenstown next week. Breathless commentary suggests it’s going to be a difficult meeting over China policy, but that’s …
President Joe Biden’s statement this week of an ‘investigation into the origins of Covid-19’ shows that the US intelligence community is making progress towards uncovering whether the virus was released because of a ‘laboratory accident’ …
Another round of fighting between Israel and Hamas has ended in a shaky ceasefire, with both sides claiming victory, as was the case with the two previous ceasefires since 2008. Israel justified its massive bombardment …
In 2034, a small American flotilla on a routine ‘freedom of navigation’ patrol in the South China Sea encounters an unflagged trawler in distress, with smoke billowing from its bridge. What follows is far from …
As Australia moves through the stages of recovery from Covid-19, we’re increasingly urged in mainstream and social media to support local, visit local and live local. From Mudgee to Mildura, Batemans Bay to Bundaberg and …
Let’s see if we can spot a contradiction here. On 25 April, Defence Minister Peter Dutton told the ABC war with China over Taiwan could not be ruled out. He did not need to add …
At the Boao Forum in April Chinese President Xi Jinping said the world needed ‘justice, not hegemony’. He said China would never engage in an arms race or boss others around and ‘meddling in others’ …
Almost inadvertently, US energy security has been threatened by a ransomware attack which demonstrated dramatically how the consequences of such hacks are escalating. This one probably won’t be the worst, but it will change the …
The federal government’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill is no paper tiger. In ending Victoria’s link with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Commonwealth has reasserted Australian sovereignty in terms of responsibility and …
Sea state Both of the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth–class aircraft carriers have sailed together for the first time, in a symbolic culmination of the UK’s ‘carrier renaissance’. According to naval commander Commodore Steve Moorhouse, the …
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has once again demonstrated the lengths to which he will go to crack down on his opponents. On 23 May, he deployed a MiG-29 fighter jet to force down a commercial …
Once again, the Australian government has delivered exactly the funding it promised in the 2016 defence white paper and 2020 defence strategic update (DSU). If the government was willing to recommit to the white paper’s …
Australia has passed through a baffling period in public and policy debate on China–Taiwan relations. It has been prompted by a tactical step by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force over the last 12 months …
The evolving debate in the US about the future of the F-35A joint strike fighter may open up new opportunities for the Royal Australian Air Force to take a radically different direction in its future …
Frontline medical workers across the world are more stressed, anxious and making poorer decisions, and they’re unconsciously telling us through their social media posts. Like everybody else, doctors and nurses have been struggling to adapt …
The government’s 2020 defence strategic update provided refreshing clarity about Australia’s deteriorating strategic environment and the need for new military capabilities to address it. These include long-range strike capabilities to impose greater cost on potential …