Getting caught up in geopolitical competition may seem uncomfortable enough for Pacific island countries. What’s making things worse is that outside powers’ struggle to influence them is weakening their resistance to organised crime emanating from …
The following is an edited summary of introductory remarks made to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) today by ASPI executive director Justin Bassi, the head of ASPI’s counter terrorism program, John …
The elevation of the Australia-Vietnam relationship to the highest diplomatic level opens opportunities for deeper defence cooperation, especially the expansion of defence industry. On 7 March, after the conclusion of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in …
The UK’s tilt back to the Indo-Pacific has had no shortage of critics, including in Australia, but it has achieved tangible results and has lifted Britain’s importance in the region. As the frothy post-Brexit rhetoric of Global …
The Yemeni Houthi rebels’ continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea serve as a reminder that global supply chains remain highly vulnerable to disruption. Moreover, it highlights how food insecurity can simultaneously be an …
Today marks 12 months since the release of the ‘optimal pathway’ Australia needed to follow to acquire a force of nuclear-powered and conventionally-armed attack submarines (SSNs) under the AUKUS agreement with the United States and …
Following last week’s by-all-accounts successful Australia-ASEAN summit in Melbourne, I offered some unsolicited advice for an ASEAN audience, on the differences between non-alignment and neutrality. In the same presumptuous vein, my recommendation to Australian readers …
If you are leader of an Australian political party, prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister or Ambassador to the US, the opening paragraph on a speech on the Alliance will contain a reference to our …
So now Chinese police are operating in Kiribati. Let’s be clear about why that’s a problem. If Chinese police are in a country, Chinese expatriates are more easily controlled and groups favoured by China can …
I have previously argued for Australia to take an active role in the design and procurement process for the nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarine (SSN) to be acquired under the AUKUS agreement with the US and …
The future of US-China rivalry is not likely to become a cold war, nor a hot one. Rather, it’s more likely to be a simmer war, a new situation in which there is persistent competition …
Opening up opportunities for Australia’s women in high-tech areas is about much more than fairness. It has become a strategic imperative. This is crucial as Australia faces its most complex array of national security challenges …
Today, no doubt, there’ll be morning teas with cupcakes in each of the nation’s security agencies to mark International Women’s Day. But how will any of that improve the situation for women, peace and security? …
An historic appointment was made late last year, of Heather Cook as CEO of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and director of the Australian Institute of Criminology. To little fanfare or media coverage, Cook started …
Almost three years have passed since the leaders of the four Quad countries pledged to co-operate on critical technologies to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific. With technology …
Against the backdrop of the standoff between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the second Special Australia-ASEAN Summit offered leaders from Australia and Southeast Asia the opportunity to speak candidly about the …
As this week’s 50th anniversary ASEAN-Australia summit wraps up in Melbourne, I would like to offer one simple piece of policy advice to each party to help them strengthen their relations in future from a …
The catalyst for the Gulf War was the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 1 August 1990. After condemning the invasion and demanding Iraq’s withdrawal, the UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions. The Security Council also …
Preparations are already underway at the United Nations for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was originally signed in 1968. Many expect a …
The development in August last year attracted little attention, but it represented a significant step forward in the strategic relationship between Japan and Australia. For the first time, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force deployed two …