A slump in Australia’s trade with India undercuts the government’s hopes that the country might become a democratic counterweight to our economic dependence on authoritarian China. While the headline coverage of last week’s official trade …
By almost every measure, press freedom in East Asia has suffered a depressing erosion lately. Professional journalists and citizen bloggers have been jailed or slapped with costly defamation suits. Media outlets have had their operating …
On 1 July, Australia unveiled its 2020 defence strategic update, which redefines the country’s strategic priorities and its response to the rapidly evolving regional security landscape. From Cambodia’s point of view, two key components in …
As Australia’s defence minister does her quarterly meetings with the French to push, pummel and pull at the future submarine project, Linda Reynolds is entitled to reflect, ‘How in heavens did we get here?’ Creating …
Australians will be dismayed by the findings of an investigation into allegations that their special forces in Afghanistan committed war crimes, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has warned. Interviewed by journalist Stan Grant as part of …
Since 2017, America’s national security strategy has focused on great-power competition, and today much of Washington is busy portraying our relationship with China as a new cold war. Obviously, great-power competition remains a crucial aspect …
In this episode, Kelsey Munro, senior analyst with ASPI’s cyber centre, speaks to Charles Edel, senior fellow and visiting scholar at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, about US–China tensions and …
The beat Anti-maskers clash with police in Victoria In just one day last week, Victoria Police fined 170 people for breaking the state’s lockdown rules. Among them were 18 people who weren’t wearing masks, some …
In a report released earlier this week, I and my ASPI colleagues Albert Zhang and Jake Wallis investigated a small-scale digital influence operation linked to Chinese-speaking actors. This activity targeted social media users in the …
Does Australia’s cyber security strategy 2020, released by the Home Affairs Department today, go far enough to address the cyber resilience of the nation’s small and medium enterprises? The Australian SME sector comprised more than …
On 6 August—75 years ago today—the first nuclear weapon used in anger was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. One more was used against Nagasaki on 9 August, and since then, no nuclear weapons …
China has dominated the world’s supply of rare-earth elements for decades. Over the past year, however, there has been a growing recognition among the US and its allies (including Australia, South Korea, Japan and India) …
The Australian Federal Police deserve high praise for shutting down a major cocaine trafficking exercise near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, that was intended to deliver a drug haul valued at around $80 million to …
In a major address at the National Press Club on Tuesday, shadow defence minister Richard Marles doubled down on the Australian Labor Party’s criticisms of Australia’s troubled future submarine program. The address was teasingly billed …
President Donald Trump’s random tweets make it hard for allies, and potential adversaries, of the United States to understand its policies and, potentially, to de-escalate dangerous situations, says former US ambassador to the United Nations …
Rules, culture and money key for progress in WPS agenda In her conclusion to ASPI’s annual women, peace and security series, Laura J. Shepherd explores the lessons learnt from the past two decades of research …
Chinese President Xi Jinping is urging China to ‘lead the reform of the global governance system’ and to ‘actively participate in the formulation of international rules’. Such statements suggest that we now should be able to gain …
Vietnam assumed the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last November for 2020—perhaps the most challenging year ever to take on the role. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the nature of diplomacy, particularly …
The triple crises of geopolitical power shifts, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disasters that flow from it will shape global politics, restructure global supply chains and bring an end to unregulated globalisation. The post-pandemic …
Sea state On 28 July, Iran tested missiles on an American aircraft carrier replica in the Strait of Hormuz, putting US troops based in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on high alert. Iranian state …