The beat Crime rates fall during Covid-19 pandemic Police forces are reporting a fall in crime as cities around the world go into lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. New York City reported a …
An unprecedented threat demands an unprecedented response. Rarely, if ever, have governments had to shift into crisis-management mode as quickly as they have in the past few weeks. So far, the focus has been on …
It’s easy to focus inwards during times like this. Families take care of loved ones and governments take care of their people. But another crisis created by the novel coronavirus is looming. Over the coming …
Some confusion has emerged (see here and here, for example) over strategic strike, where a threat to an adversary’s key war-making assets produces a deterrent effect, and tactical strike, where an effect is sought on …
Papua New Guinea faces its most critical economic, fiscal and social crisis since independence in 1975. This dangerous mix is largely unrelated to the coronavirus sweeping the world, despite attempts by some PNG leaders to …
To look forward, without unseemly guesswork, requires an element of looking back. I am not a virologist or epidemiologist; my 38 years in specialist medical practice was as a consultant general physician and diagnostician. Twice …
Against the backdrop of an escalating war of words between Washington and Beijing, and the Chinese Communist Party’s broader campaign to rewrite the history of the Covid-19 outbreak, the attempts by multiple Chinese diplomats to …
Sea state The US Navy has sent a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to test a Royal Australian Navy task group’s air defences. The deployment and exercise were part of the RAN’s fleet certification period. …
The frenzy outside a local butcher’s shop was electric, as sharp-elbowed women forced their way through the door, where dozens were already packed to the counter thrusting their purses, seeking the butcher’s attention. One pushed …
The coronavirus sweeping Australia and the rest of the world will reshape our ways of life for many months, if not years. It has already changed what we can do, who we can spend time …
Communities play an essential role in reducing the impact of disasters. In Australia, we saw this in the recent unprecedented bushfires, when neighbours helped each other to battle flames, evacuate the vulnerable, and feed and …
It’s time to upend the idea of a ‘balanced force’ in Australian defence policy. Defence leaders have talked for decades about the 60,000-person ADF as a balanced force, with a little bit of something to …
We will see many things that frighten us as we walk along the various threads of the coronavirus pandemic. But whether it’s about panic shopping, closed borders or social distancing, it will be the leadership …
Merge a couple of fairy tales for some judgement lines on Australia’s Pacific step-up. Canberra likes to think of itself as the handsome prince. The Pacific islands, though, can perceive a sleeping beauty or a …
In this episode, we speak with three experts to help understand the global health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus. You’ll hear from Raina MacIntyre, who’s a professor of global biosecurity at the University of …
In his recent two–part Strategist series, ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer made the case for Australia developing a long-range strike capability. I disagree, but my counterargument is not absolute: Australia ought to have the ability to sink …
Over the coming decades, climate change will have serious and pervasive impacts on human security across the Indo-Pacific region. From supporting regional disaster-assistance missions to responding to sudden climate-change-related mass migration, Australia’s north will need …
Every year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies publishes a thorough assessment of the capabilities and defence economics of militaries around the globe. The 2020 edition of The military balance covers 171 countries and provides …
My ASPI colleague Marcus Hellyer’s two recent posts open up a range of questions about the future role of long-range strike capabilities in Australian strategy. One of the more important questions involves what we want …
The beat Police granted powers to enforce quarantine Governor-General David Hurley has declared an emergency granting Australian police powers to quarantine people with Covid-19 under human biosecurity control orders. People who fail to comply or …