The internet of concerning things

The internet of things (IoT) is a network of everyday items, such as fridges, washing machines and even automobiles, that connect to the internet to share and exchange information. Kevin Ashton, who coined the term …

Talking to the chiefs: Tim Barrett (part 2)

Australia’s surface warships and submarines will, in future, be much more closely linked to allied vessels to provide a collective defence against increasingly lethal threats, Royal Australian Navy chief Tim Barrett tells The Strategist. Discussing …

North Korea? Call the G2!

If Donald Trump can’t get a deal with North Korea, the only deal in town is with China. If not ‘fire and fury’ with Pyongyang, it must be a fix with Beijing. A president keen …

The wrong way to prevent nuclear war

A vast majority of countries want to eliminate the existential threat of nuclear catastrophe, and rightly so. But achieving a world free of nuclear weapons is easier said than done, and there is a risk …

ASPI suggests

Welcome back to another week of ASPI suggests. First up, here are some solid reads on le sujet du jour: North Korea. This Esquire piece delivers what it says on the box: a good read …

The DPRK: what’s new?

The latest crisis on the Korean peninsula is distinctive for a number of reasons. First, it involves a bunch of new or newish leaders in Kim Jung-un, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Moon Jae-in. Second, …

Thrills, spills and industry spillovers

Recent public discussion on defence industry has highlighted the contribution that domestic production of defence capital equipment makes to broader technological development within Australia and, in turn, to economic growth. Much of the discussion relies …

North Korea, war and ANZUS

President Trump’s excitable rhetoric about US military options in relation to North Korea—‘fire and fury’, ‘locked and loaded’—has attracted considerable media attention in recent days. But look behind the rhetoric. Allied decision-makers are starting to …

Cyber wrap

Getting a handle on the ‘cyber’ It’s been a big week in internet regulation, with unsavoury activities being plugged left and right. GoDaddy, a major domain registration service, evicted the Daily Stormer from its platform, …

Can South Korea save the day?

As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s and US President Donald Trump’s war of words escalated, Independence Day celebrations—commemorating the Korean peninsula’s 1945 liberation from Japanese colonial rule—was unfolding in both North and South Korea. The …

Pakistan post-Sharif: expect little change

On 1 August, the parliament of Pakistan overwhelmingly elected Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the new prime minister following the Supreme Court’s decision to unanimously declare that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not ‘honest’ and that …