A military coup against an elected government typically unleashes a flood of analysis about the country’s future direction following the break in democratic rule. But failed coups can be just as consequential. The botched attempt …
Sea State The USN has been restricted from using low-frequency active sonar in some ocean areas because it can injure whales and other marine life. A federal appeals court found on 15 July that the …
In his book on the transformation of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Lieutenant General (Retired) Agus Wijojo—now Governor of the National Resilience College in Jakarta—outlined the security sector reforms (SSR) undertaken by the TNI since …
The unanimous decision of the five-member Arbitral Tribunal in favour of the Philippines in its South China Sea case against China is breathtaking in its scope and will have profound consequences for regional geopolitics for …
Military coups—successful or otherwise—follow a predictable pattern in Turkey. Political groups—typically Islamists—deemed by soldiers to be antagonistic to Kemal Ataturk’s vision of a secular Turkey gain increasing power. Tensions rise, often accompanied by violence on …
We all come to the Chilcot Report with our own baggage. The interviewers who asked me if I ‘regretted’ my involvement may have little real interest in an expression of regret for victims, but seem …
Indonesian President Joko Widodo may have finally come of age as a leader with his decision to ignore seniority—and Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri—in choosing counter-terrorism guru, Tito Karnavian, as Indonesia’s …
Australia uses satellites to support national defence, economic, and scientific activities, but isn’t a ‘space power’ that can provide independent space systems for national needs. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Scientific Research’s 2015 ‘State …
Politicians can be divided into ‘straights’, ‘fixers’ and ‘maddies,’ and Malcolm Turnbull must quickly find his inner fixer. The transformation isn’t impossible because Turnbull has already tried the other two categories. In his first stint …
It has been an exciting week across Asia, Europe and the US, kicking off with the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea’s award on the Philippines v China case. There’s been no shortage …
‘An overwhelming victory’ is how Paul Reichler, lead counsel of the Philippines, describes the Award issued by Permanent Court of Arbitration Tribunal in the case of Philippines v. China concerning the South China Sea (SCS). …
Tomorrow’s an important anniversary on the strategic calendar. The first US nuclear test—codenamed Trinity—occurred on 16 July 1945. The event represented both the culmination of the work of the Manhattan Project and the dawn of …
China has been trying to bully its way to dominance in Asia for years. And it seems that not even an international tribunal in The Hague is going to stand in its way. China has …
Anthony Bergin wrote here on The Strategist that The Hague award in The Philippines v China arbitration case is a heavy defeat for Beijing. The award is breathtaking in its overwhelming support for the Philippines’s …
The Beat In depth: Dallas shootings In the US last week, two men were shot and killed by police officers—both victims were African American and both had their last moments caught on camera, and subsequently …
Japanese voters delivered a landslide victory to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling coalition in an upper house election held on 10 July. While the outcome was never in doubt, the shift in the …
The Chilcot report underlines two crucial truths that further undermine the Iraq War legacies of George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard. The first is that the invasion was unnecessary, precisely because the US-led …
To no one’s surprise, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has upheld all the key arguments of the Philippines in its case against China on the application of the United Nations Convention …
The People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already stated that the international Tribunal’s award in The Philippines v. China case is null and void and has no binding force. That’s no great …
Last Wednesday the European Parliament approved the new European Union Network and Information Security directive, which applies common cybersecurity and reporting obligations for operators of essential services, such as energy, transport, health finance and water …