The European Union is facing an existential threat, and yet its leadership is responding with a compromise that appears to reflect a belief that the threat can simply be wished away. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s …
In this episode, Leanne Close, head of ASPI’s counterterrorism program, speaks with Peta Lowe, who has over 15 years’ experience working with young people involved with the justice system. They discusses countering violent extremism in …
Violent disturbances over nickel production, with implications for Australian security, in our close French neighbour, New Caledonia, have attracted attention in Paris, but not here. Only Nic Maclellan, true to excellent form, has written about …
Amid the cranky grey-zone conflict with the People’s Republic of China, members of Australia’s elites are displaying eagerly their whateverist credentials. The first iteration of whateverism emerged from a notorious editorial jointly published by the …
Climate change is presenting Australia’s Defence Department with new challenges on the domestic front. One of the more pressing is the need to safeguard defence installations across Australia as climate-driven natural disaster events become increasingly …
For the past six weeks or more, both the political system and day-to-day government operations of Papua New Guinea have been paralysed by the impact of divisions within the Marape government, and attempts to remove …
As if the raging Covid-19 pandemic, a spluttering economy, record-high unemployment and massive farmers’ protests besieging the country’s capital weren’t enough, India’s ruling Hindu-chauvinist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now incited a new crisis: a …
Here’s a priority list for Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s foreign arrangements taskforce to apply the Australian government’s new veto power over states’ engagement with foreign governments: Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative memorandum of understanding with …
Scott Morrison demanded three things in his emotionally charged press conference about ‘that tweet’ last week. One: an apology, two: that the Chinese government remove foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian’s post, and three: that Twitter …
Joe Biden will have a lot on his plate after his inauguration as US president on 20 January 2021. The most pressing concern will be dealing with Covid-19 and establishing a path back to economic …
This week’s meeting of the European Council has rightly been called a ‘doomsday summit’. It is overshadowed not just by a ghastly winter wave of Covid-19 infections and the prospect of a chaotic no-deal Brexit, …
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted almost all aspects of life, and elections have been no exception. Across the world, elections in 2020 were conducted under the shadow of the pandemic, providing a stress test not …
One of the more interesting numbers released by Defence this year was the size of its external workforce, which the department is now measuring through a biannual census. The total number is 28,632 full-time equivalent …
In Afghanistan, the milestones of Sheringul’s life have been marred by conflict. There are weddings and birthdays marking the passage of time—but also injuries, deaths and displacement against a backdrop of conflict spanning decades. Sheringul …
Planet A The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which advises the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, released a report last week finding that climate change is the biggest threat to natural world heritage sites. This …
The recently released Global Terrorism Index finds that deaths from terrorism around the world fell to 13,826 in 2019, a 15% decrease from the previous year and a five-year low. A total of 103 countries …
Regardless of the discipline, graduates entering the national security sphere are likely to have far more experience in evaluating policy on paper than in developing novel solutions under pressure. As failures or miscalculations in national …
On 30 November, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted an artist’s interpretation of the war crime allegations made against Australian special forces soldiers. The image provoked a strong response from Australian Prime …
A military conflict in the South China Sea would force most shipping from Europe, the Middle East and Africa destined for Asia and the US west coast to be diverted around the south of Australia. …
Implementing gender-based responses to Covid-19 The United Nations Development Programme has released a guidance note for national parliaments outlining their responsibility to address the gendered impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The document explains the problem …