The Australian Defence Force and all three levels of government should work together to establish and maintain ‘mounting’ bases in Australia’s north from which overseas operations could be launched. The ADF has home bases, mounting …
US presidential candidate Joe Biden has suggested that one of his administration’s policy goals would be to de-emphasise the role of nuclear weapons, potentially by adopting a no-first use or sole-purpose stance and scaling back …
The 10th of October is a national day for both Fiji and Taiwan. For decades, Taipei’s trade office in Fiji has celebrated its event peacefully and respectfully with support from the host community in Suva. …
Foreign governments’ efforts to interfere in the elections and referendums of other countries, and more broadly to undermine other political systems, are an enduring practice of statecraft. Over the past decade, the scale and methods …
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently told the People’s Liberation Army Marine Corps to ‘put mind and energy on preparing for war’ as the United States announced plans to sell three advanced weapon systems to Taiwan, …
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Jakarta tomorrow to meet with his Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. With an itinerary including stops in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, it’s …
Turkey is slowly but surely drifting away from the West. The recent spat between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron is the latest example of this widening gulf. Macron had …
Planet A Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden faces a careful balancing act between transitioning the US away from fossil fuels and maintaining existing jobs. Biden said in his last debate with President Donald Trump that he wants …
After Chief Executive Carrie Lam cancelled the Hong Kong Legislative Council election scheduled for September 2020, Beijing’s National People’s Congress decreed that all council members would stay in their posts for ‘no less than one …
The South China Morning Post has been keeping a running tally of the incidents in Australia’s deteriorating trade relationship with China this year, starting with a set of events that was entirely ignored by the Australian media. …
The United States is in the midst of a major shift in focus to the Indo-Pacific as it competes with China for global influence. This contest will affect key US priorities and require comprehensive policy engagement …
The government announced its modern manufacturing initiative (MMI) on 1 October as the centrepiece of its strategy to help Australian manufacturers ‘scale up, improve competitiveness and build more resilient supply chains’. The MMI will support …
A major priority of whoever wins the US presidential election will be to set or reset relations with Iran. Whichever way it goes, the result will have huge implications for regional security. For both Donald …
The fall of the Weimar Republic and the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 is usually best told by the creative. After all, Weimar is remembered not only for its economic and political …
The images were touching. In early October, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin with his Israeli and Emirati counterparts. How better to celebrate the recent normalisation of relations between Israel …
Australia’s overseas spies shelter in the most silent spaces of the spook universe. The 68-year-old ethos of the spies of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service is never to speak publicly, just as they aim never …
The international community urgently needs new tools, ideas and initiatives to meet the common threats and challenges faced by the United Nations’ 193 member countries. The world body’s 75th anniversary, marked on United Nations Day …
‘When small men begin to cast big shadows’, wrote the Chinese intellectual Lin Yutang, ‘it means the sun is about to set.’ It is a dictum that, like many, functions neatly in reverse. When small …
An Australian ministerial visit to Brunei Darussalam normally triggers little strategic interest. But there may be more than meets the eye to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’s meeting this week with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, sandwiched in …
In a major hostage exchange in Mali earlier this month, nearly 200 jihadists held by the Mali government were swapped for a French woman, two Italians and a kidnapped Malian politician. The exchange didn’t include …