In the post-Cold War era, western navies have continued to seek the highest levels of technology and capability in an environment of declining defence budgets. This has caused a reduction in overall fleet sizes as …
The Middle East’s tragic tale of two cities—Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Iraq—speaks to a fundamental lack of consensus in the region and within the broader international community. The lack of order in the …
In Asia’s slow-motion power shift, the Philippines has just lurched towards China’s orbit. Now to work out a sense of the import and meaning of the shift. President Rodrigo Duterte goes to Beijing to declare …
There are only a couple of weeks left until the New York City presidential derby. The read of the week unfolded in the Fairfax press, with Peter Hartcher’s three-part series United Fates, which covers off …
France and India have further deepened their military and economic relationship through India’s purchase of 36 French “Rafale” fighter jets at a cost of almost €8 billion. This order is France’s largest aeronautic contract ever …
The long-anticipated battle to wrest Mosul from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is underway. Sitting on an ethnic fault line between Turkish, Kurdish and Arab spheres, the city affords a prism …
‘The main element of any US policy towards the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment,’ the US diplomat George Kennan wrote in 1947 in a Foreign Affairs …
The ongoing presidential campaign in the United States stands out for its lack of civility and the vast differences between the candidates: the anti-establishment businessman Donald Trump on the Republican side and the polished politician …
The Beat Where there’s smoke, there’s crime CID Gallup, a Latin American public opinion and market research company, has just released a report detailing an alarming surge in the illicit tobacco trade worldwide (PDF). The …
Mark Thomson and I have been following the status of the Collins class submarines for some years now, and we’re happy to see the upbeat new installment of the Coles review (PDF). There’s some good …
Des Ball was one of Australia’s greatest strategic thinkers and analysts; an unassuming patriot. His thoughts and analysis pervaded Australian political debate and consideration of our national security interests for decades. His output and his …
As the world watches the Battle for Mosul unfold, the key question isn’t whether the city will be liberated, but rather what comes next? The military operation to liberate Mosul could actually prove to be …
A large DDoS incident hit the Internet last Friday, taking down several US news, entertainment and business websites including Netflix, Twitter, Spotify, The New York Times, Facebook and Tumblr. Domain name system manager Dyn reported …
For the first time Australia now has two senior ministers in the Defence portfolio, with Marise Payne as Minister for Defence and Christopher Pyne as Minister for Defence Industry. Minister Pyne is more senior in …
One hundred years ago, in October 1916, the German submarine U 53 made an unannounced visit to Newport, Rhode Island. After sailing, the U-Boat proceeded into international waters to intercept and sink a number of …
World leaders now discuss cybersecurity as a priority issue with their counterparts in many guises, be it the seemingly endless revelations of state led cyber espionage, state sponsored information leaks, or cyber criminals enjoying an …
Sea State One of the most storied names in British naval history is being revived for the Royal Navy’s new class of ballistic nuclear missile submarines. The Royal Navy announced last week that the first …
President Rodrigo Duterte’s may have rowed back from his shock decision to ‘separate’ from the United States announced during his recent visit to China, but the bizarre episode reinforces the picture of a very different …
Donald Trump’s insurgent bid to win the White House is the political equivalent of a slow-motion car crash. Every aspect is a disaster; and the Republican Party is powerless to stop it. So big is …
Mark Thomson’s account of Australia–New Zealand defence differences prompts an impolite question: quite what is the point of these trans-Tasman comparisons? The intellectual answer is that we want an accurate account of the world around …