The hard part of running the Defence organisation is the trade-offs—lining up capability, strategy and resources to work out what can and can’t be done, says Department of Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty. ‘A challenge I’ve …
The surging optimism about the imminent end of the Korean peninsula’s long reign as a global flashpoint is overwhelming the legions of realists and pessimists around the region. The new Kim Jong‑un is charming and …
The beat Ergonomics of police body cameras Victoria Police have begun distributing body cameras to 11,000 frontline officers. Officers won’t be required to tell the public when the cameras are filming. Footage will be kept for …
This week, a senior German official pointed out to me that, ‘The Iran nuclear deal is the last firewall preventing military tensions in the world’s most combustible region from spilling over into thermonuclear war.’ That …
There is general consensus among the government, civil society and industry sectors that data is a critical asset in our lives. Everything from knowing the weather in the morning to reading the news and checking …
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden visit to Wuhan for a two-day ‘informal dialogue’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week revives questions in India about whether the mutual sincerity expressed by the two leaders …
Britain, France and Germany, the three European signatories to the Iran nuclear agreement, are engaged in intensive negotiations with Washington and Tehran seeking a ‘supplemental agreement’ acceptable to Iran that will also persuade the US …
This is the seventh in our series ‘Australia in Space’ leading up to ASPI’s Building Australia’s Strategy for Space conference in June. In the late 1950s, the relevance of space to many Australians was made …
Australia’s engagement with the Philippines before, during and after the conflict in Marawi last year was more than just a humanitarian response. It signalled Australia’s maturation as a regional security actor and ‘provider of choice’ …
In the not-too-distant future, battery technology will power the world. As I wrote in part one, much like oil has dominated energy geopolitics, critical minerals like cobalt—essential for batteries—will dominate tomorrow’s race for energy security. …
In January, Greg Sheridan wrote about a forthcoming report to the government by former foreign secretary Peter Varghese on how to elevate relations with India. Peter, who served also as high commissioner to India, gives …
Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Washington on 27 April for only the second time since Donald Trump became president. It was described as a ‘working visit’ and lasted just 22 hours, including about two and a half hours …
On 17 April, Bloomberg reported that China had overtaken the United States as Vietnam’s largest export market. According to figures cited by the news organisation and tallied by the International Monetary Fund, Vietnam’s exports to China …
Sea state Exercise Komodo 2018 will begin on 4 May. Over 30 countries will participate in the biennial multilateral naval exercise, including all 18 ASEAN-Plus nations—the 10 ASEAN countries plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, …
Australian policy observers are focused on President Emmanuel Macron’s first visit to Australia. But there will be another first immediately afterwards: his visit to the French territory of New Caledonia across the Coral Sea. The …
The irony for Australia in the post–Cold War era is that our dependence on the United States has grown as the strategic options in our region have narrowed. Our national strategy of ‘defence self-reliance within …
The missile strikes against Syrian military installations that the United States, the United Kingdom and France recently carried out, in response to the government’s apparent use of chemical weapons in the rebel-held town of Douma, …
Emmanuel Macron and Malcolm Turnbull have the opportunity to set Australian and French defence industry on a new path that will bring decades of strategic and economic benefit to both our countries. That opportunity revolves …
Angela Merkel’s statement after her meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin on 10 April came as a surprise to many. The German chancellor said that the highly controversial pipeline project Nord Stream 2 would have …
This is the sixth in our series ‘Australia in Space’ leading up to ASPI’s Building Australia’s Strategy for Space conference in June. Some key events are looming in the nascent Australian space sector. Following the …