President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has caused much discussion about China’s vision for engaging the world economically. In many ways, it can bring ‘win–win’ opportunities for China’s economic partners, but there’s also …
For the ADF to be a war winning force it must be fully integrated and accepting of cultural and gender differences, says Defence’s Vice Chief, Ray Griggs. Vice Admiral Griggs tells The Strategist the transformation …
A five-nation defence pact for which the peak ministerial council has met only 10 times in 46 years is a happy institution. Threats can’t be pressing and the military machinery must be running smoothly. …
An Asia that doubted the strength and commitment of the US pivot now confronts a new White House songbook. The tune is ‘America First’. The words are, ‘Let’s make a deal!’ And Asia can’t yet …
‘In this brave new world we cannot rely on great powers to safeguard our interests.’ Malcolm Turnbull, Singapore, June 2, 2017. Australia’s Prime Minister has given a big Asia speech that attacked China directly while …
The horror of the Manchester bombing runs along multiple planes. It wasn’t just that the attack, like that on popular al-Faqma ice-cream parlor in Baghdad’s Karada district one week later, callously targeted children. Two days …
The ‘America First’ pendulum has been in full swing this week, as the President returned from his time abroad to stamp on the progress made by the Paris climate agreement and ask the Supreme Court …
Welcome to The Strategist Six, a feature which provides a glimpse into the thinking of prominent academics, government officials, military officers, reporters and interesting individuals from around the world. 1. How concerned is Poland about the …
Paraphrased, the US Third Offset strategy runs something like ‘bolstering US conventional deterrence through technological and operational innovation’. The strategy hinges on innovation, and sees the integration of autonomy into weapon systems and organisational constructs …
Recent media reports suggest senior US officials have told Julie Bishop that if North Korea’s nuclear weapon program can’t be reversed, South Korea and Japan will likely pursue their own indigenous nuclear arsenals. In fact, …
The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Singapore this weekend gives the Trump administration a major opportunity to set out, in detail, its Asia–Pacific strategy. If it fails to do that, the perception—particularly in Southeast Asia—that …
US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia offered a rare glimpse into his emerging foreign-policy agenda. It is now all but certain that the Trump administration will abstain from lecturing foreign leaders about their …
The Beat All that glitters… … is not gold, and not all that is gold is legally mined. African Matters profiles the latest developments in Ghana’s fight to curb galamsey, the practice of illegal artisanal …
In April, the government released their first annual update on implementation of the 2016 Cyber Security Strategy. We provided our assessment of that report on The Strategist shortly afterwards, and yesterday we released our own …
John McCain’s speech in Sydney this week offered an emotionally-appealing restatement of the orthodox, establishment view of Australia’s alliance with America. In doing so the veteran Republican senator showed quite plainly why that view is …
As long-term readers will know, we keep a watching brief on American aircraft development and production programs that are relevant to Australia. The two most significant ones are the RAAF’s current and future first line …
China’s new cybersecurity law enters into force this week, less than a month after the implementation of additional measures for security reviews of critical network products and services. (See here for some background on the …
In 2002 Ray Griggs, then captain of the frigate HMAS Arunta, took his ship to the Persian Gulf to help enforce UN sanctions against Iraq. The Anzac-class frigate was equipped with eight air defence missiles …
Emmanuel Macron’s election to the French presidency provides the European Union with an opportunity to move past the internal conflicts that have hastened its disintegration. Rather than standing exclusively with the old elites or the …
What, exactly, is China trying to do with the vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, formally known as One Belt, One Road) by building connectivity across the whole Eurasian continent? Since President Xi Jinping launched …