Mike Carlton is now distinguished by his own efforts with the pen as an able chronicler of the Royal Australian Navy, in two World Wars and in the brief interregnum of peace, 1919–1939. In both …
With Americans set to choose their next President today, talk has continued about the election’s cybersecurity. Since my blog on state reluctance to accept federal cyber assistance, all but 2 states have sought technical support …
In an earlier article on the USAF X-37B space plane I noted that the Obama administration’s 2010 space policy sought to avoid space weaponisation and ASATs. Washington’s current policy reinforces international norms against space warfare …
Digital communications have bridged the enormous physical distance between the US and Australia, enabling people on both sides of the Pacific to take advantage of innovative technologies and services. The growing opportunities for trans-Pacific digital …
Sea State What happens when you cross a tank with boat? You get a ‘tank boat’ of course! Indonesian defence firms PT Lundin and Pindad—in collaboration with Belgian firm CMI Defence and SAAB—presented a full …
Regardless of who wins today’s US presidential election, migration and border security will continue to be central policy issues for America and Americans. The border security policy dialogue in the US, like that in Australia, …
The battle for Mosul is a sign that the so-called Islamic State’s strongholds in Iraq and Syria are coming under threat. As a consequence, we’re likely to see an increased focus on its periphery affiliates …
At the two year mark of Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s time in office, commentators have been quick to criticise the inward turn Indonesia’s foreign policy has taken under his administration. This for a President …
‘We have finally reached the gates of Hell.’—Robert Manne’s final sentence in The Mind of the Islamic State. Australia has been at war with Islamic State since ISIS took Mosul in June, 2014. As Iraq’s …
It’s a strange old thing, this Presidential race. Seriously. Clinton and Trump are two deeply flawed candidates, yes, but they’re eons apart on key questions experience, discipline and suitability. That seems to have had a …
Across the globe, financial losses due to cybercrime continue to mount. Estimates of the cost of cybercrime to the Asia–Pacific vary, but suggested figures of about US$81 billion imply that it’s a bigger problem than …
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the most acute phase of the Suez Crisis. Diplomatic historians of mid-20th century conflicts seem agreed that the secretly planned Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in early November 1956 …
Hillary Clinton is in trouble. Since the FBI’s decision to reopen its investigation into the former Secretary of State’s handling of classified information on a private email server, Donald Trump has pulled even with the …
‘Cyber terrorism’ is a catchy term, and appears to have resonated publicly because of the headline appeal and the fear factor. To slap the word ‘terrorism’ on anything ratchets up the hyperbole and disproportionately escalates …
The Beat International tax cooperation high on the agenda Six months after the scandalous Panama Papers leaks, the Republic of Panama has signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, becoming the …
France has a deep and abiding relationship with nuclear technology. French policy-makers have based France’s energy and military independence around nuclear programs. However, as the French government attempts to justify its budget policies in the …
In the wonderfully-titled ‘From Hollywood to Bollywood’, Andrew Phillips questions the utility of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept. He thinks it’s less than the sum of its parts. Australian strategists, he argues, need to acknowledge the existence …
It was announced late last week that Australia’s biggest data breach to date had affected donors to the Red Cross Blood Service. A back-up database of 550,000 donor records (including names, contact details and behavioural …
In announcing a separation from the US, the Philippine’s President Duterte recently flagged a closer relationship with China, stating, ‘America has lost…I’ve realigned myself in your [China’s] ideological flow’. Although Duterte subsequently walked back from …
British Prime Minister Theresa May once warned her fellow Conservatives of the perils of being known as the ‘nasty party.’ But after 100 days in office, she is in danger of going further, turning the …