North Korea’s latest provocation—a successful test of an intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM)—brings the long-building crisis on the Korean peninsula to a dangerous flashpoint. For one thing, it’s clear evidence that North Korea aspires not merely …
How natural gas is bought and sold in the world’s scattered regional markets for the fuel is changing rapidly. A single global market for natural gas has finally arrived. Behind the evolution is improving technology …
On Wednesday evening, US President Donald Trump will arrive in Poland, where he will meet with Central and Eastern European leaders on Thursday at a summit of the Three Seas Initiative. Also on Thursday, before …
Confidence has returned to Europe’s chancelleries just in the nick of time, what with US President Donald Trump due in Europe in a few days. During the annus horribilis of 2016, many feared for the European Union’s …
What’s old is new again this week, with ransomware from 2016, ‘Petya’, again taking the world by storm, infecting machines across 65 countries. Except that’s not really the case, as Janus Cybercrime Solutions, the original …
There are two principal foreign actors operating in the Sahel: the EU and the United States. President Obama took considerable interest in Africa, just like his predecessor George W. Bush who allocated billions of dollars …
Synthetic biology is the stuff of dreams and nightmares. Oil-producing algae? Synthetic biology can help. Artificial life? Ask Craig Venter; he’s building his own. Poliovirus cooked up in a test tube? That’s nasty—but too late, …
I recently argued that Asia is becoming a coherent strategic system. This system is centred on the gravitational force of China’s growing geo-economic and strategic weight but also bound together by growing trade and investment …
Sea state After a tricky few weeks, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s cyber security resilience has been called into question after photos taken during a tour of the ship appeared to show computer screens running the out-dated …
The wave of terrorist attacks in Europe, North America and Australia in the last two years brought to the open many intelligence and operational shortcomings of the local and international response to it. Among …
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is an arcane science (and perhaps its practitioners prefer it that way), but it’s an incredibly important part of naval warfare. It’s also notoriously difficult—like trying to find the needle in a …
In New York, negotiations towards a nuclear weapons ban treaty—involving approximately 130 countries plus sundry civil society groups—are drawing rapidly to a close. A second draft (PDF) of the text is already under discussion. In …
A new triangle of geopolitical emotion has emerged in Europe: Great Britain has ceased feeling superior to France, and France has stopped feeling inferior to Germany. The question is whether this sentimental transformation will ultimately …
Women as ‘partners for change’ On 9 June, Canada’s International Development Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, launched the country’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy, which puts gender equality at the centre of aid programming. It argues that …
The evolution of Australia’s thinking about ASEAN has gathered enough pace that it’s now possible to propose a new Oz passion and purpose. Instead of constant pledges of engagement and partnership, Australia’s future in Southeast …
Hey, ya! The greatest reality TV show on earth continued apace this week, with the revelation that literal Fake News adorned the walls of some Trump Organization properties. This corker of a piece from Amelia …
Future wars will be won by innovative thinkers able to see opportunities in an intensely competitive world, says Army Chief Angus Campbell. In his address to the ASPI–Boeing National Security Dinner last night, Lieutenant General Campbell said …
While Australia faces complex prickly national security challenges, our Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers continue to paradoxically announce quick fix policy measures in response to terrorism and crime. From cement bollards in Sydney and …
Earlier this month, an estimated 100,000 Hong Kong residents gathered in Victoria Park, to mark the 28th anniversary of China violent repression of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. As the South China Morning Post …
The cold war in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran is coming to a head. So far carried out with the help of proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere, it’s in danger …