In September 2014, a RAAF E-7A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft arrived in the Middle East to join the war against the Islamic State terror group. Soon after its crew set off on a …
Since the Israeli response to the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas began, the world’s focus has shifted onto Israel’s prosecution of its military campaign. But in an era where information (and misinformation) can be …
War has returned to the Middle East. A month after Hamas militants carried out their brutal rampage, Israel’s military retaliation continues with an intensifying ground offensive in Hamas-controlled Gaza. For people living, or with family, …
A year after being appointed chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond admits to frustration when he’s asked why Australia needs a potent navy. ‘I wish that we were in a different …
Bob Bowker’s recent article in The Strategist was a sobering read as we approach one month since Hamas’s attack against Israel on 7 October plunged the region into another bout of violence and brinkmanship. Bowker, a retired Australian diplomat …
Part 1 of this series examined how the RAN could contribute to Australia’s new strategy of deterrence by denial as expressed through the 2023 defence strategic review (DSR). Part 2 analysed the RAN’s primary tasks …
The wars raging in Europe and the Middle East remind us that conflicts erupt suddenly. It’s a point that some AUKUS critics have seized on to say Australia and its partners are not making sufficient …
It’s time to recalibrate the debate over defence innovation. Nothing illustrates how far we’ve drifted like the current passion for ‘picking winners’. The phrase was once pejorative. It has become a mission statement. Recent contributions …
Establishing a semiconductor-manufacturing capability in Australia is a once-in-a-generation challenge that could determine the country’s place in the world. For Canberra, it’s an endeavour of the same magnitude as America’s historic ‘moonshot’ during the 1960s …
Part 1 of this series examined how the Royal Australian Navy contributes to the new national defence strategy of deterrence by denial. This part analyses the primary tasks the RAN must be capable of. A …
Recognition among Western governments of the scale of death and dispossession in Gaza has been widely accompanied by references to the need to return to a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It’s a comforting …
The Royal Australian Navy stands at a watershed. A child of the Royal Navy, the RAN shifted its primary relationship to the US Navy after World War II, buying predominantly American equipment from the 1960s. …
At their press conference last week, US President Joe Biden recounted to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a conversation he’d had with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Xi asked him why the US was ‘working so …
Planet A A group of scientists have issued a stark warning that the planet is being pushed into a climate crisis that could threaten the lives of up to six billion people this century. In …
The well-worn observation that China is at once Australia’s largest trading partner and its primary security concern is often portrayed as a conundrum in which trade-offs may be needed. Beijing’s best strategy these days is …
In July 2023, amid the sectarian violence that ravaged India’s Manipur state, a harrowing video emerged of two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. Despite a registered police complaint, no …
The AUKUS program—sweeping in the intimacy and level of its proposed cooperation—has enjoyed a high level of bipartisan support among the Australian political elite. First agreed by the Coalition government in September 2021, it was …
The term ‘global south’ is in constant use nowadays. For example, some commentators warn that Israel’s incursion into Gaza is ‘alienating the global south’, and we often hear that the ‘global south’ wants a ceasefire …
Australia relies on the professional workforce of its national intelligence agencies to collect, assess and disseminate the intelligence critical to Australia’s interests. They need the right professionals—and enough of them—to run the intelligence effort effectively. …
Appreciation of differences, more so than of common interests, is essential to maintaining most meaningful relationships over time. It’s odd and a bit unfortunate, therefore, that common interests often limit the frame of reference for …