The Prime Minister’s Office will be keen to downplay the significance of last weekend’s phone call between Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump, but both the call and the fact that it leaked in …
After the Bush administration, many believed that President Obama would bring stability to the global order with a fusion of eloquent rhetoric, a preference for multilateralism and a cautious approach to exercising the politico-military capabilities …
The Beat AFP to stay in PNG Australian Federal Police involvement in Papua New Guinea has been extended until November 2018, when Port Moresby will host an Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. $48 million in funding …
The United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union and Donald Trump’s election as US president exposed a deep generational divide. Cosmopolitan millennials and nationalist pensioners—what Thomas Friedman calls ‘Web People’ and ‘Wall People’—seem to …
The new US President has taken a very hands-on approach to defence procurement, particularly in the case of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. On December 21, then-President-elect Trump met with the CEO of Lockheed Martin, …
Welcome back to the first Cyber wrap of 2017! Since our last post in mid-December, the political fallout from Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US election continue to reverberate. On 29 December President Obama …
Chinese officials have hailed 2016 as a great year for China’s Asia–Pacific policy. On top of all other successes, Beijing defeated a perceived regional attempt to pressure China into accepting the South China Sea arbitration …
US President Donald Trump’s administration, like many before it, has had a rocky start; but the most pressing challenges are yet to come. Among them will be North Korea, whose leader, Kim Jong-un, used his …
Sea State US Senator John McCain has made waves around DC with his recently released defence budget white paper, ‘Restoring American Power’. In it, McCain argues for a diversified US military, as opposed to just …
US–China military exchanges constitute an important aspect of bilateral relations between the reigning superpower and a fast-rising one. Initiated in the wake of the establishment of diplomatic relations during the Cold War when the two …
These days, when Australians turn to thinking about worrying nuclear weapons issues, they tend to look first to the alarming pace of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, second to the growing role of nuclear …
President Trump’s enunciation of ‘America First’ in his inaugural speech should have important implications for US policy toward the Middle East. It should mean disengagement from futile conflicts and reassessment of strategies toward key regional …
Australia is writing a Foreign Policy White Paper— a ‘philosophical framework to guide Australia’s engagement, regardless of international events’—then along comes Donald Trump. An important bit of policy thinking has run into the unthinkable—as in, …
The arrival in November of the first of Australia’s new P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft is a reminder that the days of the RAAF’s AP-3C Orions are numbered. For three decades the Orions of 10 …
For nearly four centuries, since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, the concept of sovereignty—the right of countries to an independent existence and autonomy—has formed the core of …
Donald Trump has signaled his interest in using America’s ‘One China’ policy as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China over economic policy (including currency manipulation). While this ‘instinct’ of his isn’t without merit, it …
It’s a public holiday here in Australia, so Team Strategist will be back tomorrow to bring you more considered analysis on Australia’s defence and security issues after a short break. Until then, if you haven’t …
If the initial reports about his first day in office are anything to go by, new US Secretary of Defense James Mattis is living up to what the Washington establishment hopes he will bring to …
With the world’s attention understandably focused on the horrors unfolding in Syria, it’s easy for other crises to slip under the international radar. But when the chair of a UN Commission on Human Rights speaks …
In its dying moments the 114th Congress passed a bill, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, and then, for the only time in Barack Obama’s presidency, overrode his veto. The legislation negates the international legal principle …