The 11th of March 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan, killing more than 16,000 people and leading to the Fukushima nuclear accident. On hearing of the disaster, …
Planet A Bangladesh has axed nine coal-fired power plant projects as high coal prices and low overseas investment have rendered coal production financially untenable in the country. Bangladesh’s shift from coal power began last year …
Emboldened by its cost-free expansion in the South China Sea, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s regime has stepped up efforts to replicate that model in the Himalayas. In particular, China is aggressively building many new villages …
In a previous post, I noted that the Richardson review of the legislative framework of Australia’s intelligence community robustly rejected many of the claims made for relaxing the constraints on agencies, and its reassertion of …
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, the ASPI podcast crew are excited to share this brilliant all-female line-up with defence, foreign policy and national security expertise. Danielle Cave, deputy director of ASPI’s International Cyber Policy …
Debate on Australia’s future submarines is understandably focused on the information that floats out of the Defence Department about France’s Naval Group and the $80 billion program to design and build the boats. It’s very …
The year of the ox has begun darkly for the people of Hong Kong. On 16 February, nine pro-democracy activists, including 82-year-old Martin Lee, the revered long-time leader of the city’s Democratic Party, went on …
The pandemic has geopolitical and geoeconomics equivalents. Disruption all around, amid the end of the old global order. The central truths that set the topography of Australian grand strategy in Asia—the four compass points—haven’t fallen, …
‘[The government of the Russian Federation is] a government that murders its citizens for highlighting corruption and other abuses.’ — Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2020, bill introduced to US Senate, 3 February …
Debate over fitness tests in US Army With efforts underway in the US Army to re-examine its combat fitness test, Captain Kristen Griest, one of the few women to graduate from US Army Ranger School …
In a recent letter to her G20 colleagues, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argued that a truly global Covid-19 vaccination program ‘is the strongest stimulus we can provide to the global economy.’ With rich countries …
Australia’s war against organised crime has hotted up. The arrest of accused drug lord Tse Chi Lop and allegations of large-scale money laundering in Australian casinos have exposed to the public the deep economic connections …
On 15 February, Canada launched the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, a global initiative that aims to raise awareness and stop the practice of arbitrary detention. The Strategist’s Brendan Nicholson speaks with Margaret …
The successful first flight of Boeing Australia’s ‘loyal wingman’ uncrewed aircraft opens up a new path for the Royal Australian Air Force as it moves into its second century. The drone is part of the …
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, although something of an unknown quantity prior to his appointment, is already showing promising signs of stepping into the foreign policy breach left by his predecessor, Shinzo Abe. Some international …
A national survey conducted at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic indicated that Australian governments’ handling of the crisis had considerably increased Australians’ faith in their governments. This is reassuring, yet the threat from Covid-19 …
When the authors of the 2017 independent intelligence review recommended that a ‘suitably qualified person’ review the legislative framework of Australia’s intelligence community, they probably had in mind someone like Justice Robert Marsden Hope, whose …
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 that can apply widely. As …
President Joe Biden has shaken up the Middle East, putting America’s allies on notice and warning its adversaries not to take his administration for granted. He has revealed the traditional carrot-and-stick approach to promote American …
The harsh sentence handed down to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was found guilty of influence peddling, confirms anew an ancient truth of politics. Even in the world’s most firmly entrenched democracies, corruption remains …