The Chinese government’s newly launched antitrust probe into Alibaba is probably warranted. The e-commerce giant undoubtedly has a dominant market share and engages in monopolistic practices, such as forcing merchants to make the company their …
Last month, I looked at Defence’s growing external workforce, in particular its 6,500 or so contractors, who provide ‘skills that would normally be maintained in the Australian Public Service or Australian Defence Force … to …
In the Covid era of gloom, doom and Zoom, Australia’s prime minister went to summit meetings while doing 14 days quarantine. And the lockdown PM fronted the cameras with board shorts and thongs just out …
Originally published 1 April 2020. In a world filled with think tanks, shrewd minds and an internet, interesting assessments of the geopolitical ramifications of Covid-19 appear almost daily. From Michel Duclos’s observation that the pandemic …
Originally published 26 May 2020. There’s a big international weapons program that probably doesn’t pass the post-coronavirus pub test for supply chain security. As US President Donald Trump’s recently said, ‘It’s a certain fighter jet, …
Originally published 30 March 2020. Remember December 2019? That innocent age before our kids knew how to spell ‘Covid’, when all we were worried about was the terrible bushfires and the ongoing climate crisis? In …
Originally published 12 September 2020. What is China trying to achieve by its sudden lurch to a bullying, ‘wolf warrior’ global stance? For all the billions of dollars of intelligence hardware and software pointed at …
Originally published 3 July 2020. Hong Kong’s first handover to China, in 1997, came with fireworks, lion dances and a mood of cautious optimism that this former British colony would enjoy ‘a high degree of …
Originally published 27 May 2020. At the end of April, two upgraded Chinese Type-094 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) reportedly went into service. But China’s SSBN capability is a far less important component of its …
Originally published 26 August 2020. China’s deputy ambassador says Australia’s call for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 was like a knife in the feelings of the Chinese people. In a speech to …
Originally published 16 June 2020. Earlier this month, I completed my posting in Iraq as head of delegation with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC is an organisation that addresses the humanitarian …
Originally published 7 April 2020. The Australian government is properly focused on managing the domestic effects of Covid-19. But we must also think about a changing external environment. Middle powers are not generally prime movers in …
Originally published 19 November 2020. After a four-year-long investigation into allegation that members of Australian special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan, 25 soldiers stand accused of murdering 39 unarmed Afghan civilians or prisoners and …
Originally published 20 January 2020. It is disappointing that the Brits are doing the wrong thing on 5G, having not exhausted other possibilities. Instead they have doubled down on a flawed and outdated cybersecurity model …
Originally published 6 March 2020. When you stop and think about it, it seems a miracle that the global economy spins on as well as it does. As the spread of Covid-19 has shown, any …
Originally published 19 August 2020. Australia’s 2020 defence strategic update and accompanying force structure plan outline the next 20 years of development for the Royal Australian Air Force’s strike and air combat capability. Some notional …
Originally published 16 May 2020. Can Australia stop the Chinese government’s economic coercion against our government and businesses? Yes. All it would take is for Australian political leaders and parliaments to align our national policies, …
Editors’ picks for 2020: ‘Australia’s electoral system isn’t immune to US-style conspiracy theories’
Originally published 24 November 2020. Three weeks after Americans went to the polls, the morass of conspiracy theories and disinformation surrounding the election and its results continues to grow. Although the US is half a …
After a very, very long year, The Strategist team is taking a short break. Starting on Monday 28 December, we’ll be republishing some of our favourite posts from 2020. Thank you very much for reading …
Of all the countries that the new US administration might wish to nudge its way as it tackles the implications of Beijing’s power and ambitions, very few matter more strategically than Indonesia. Yet such are the obstacles to achieving this in the …