The 2016 Defence White Paper (DWP) announced that the Future Submarine will be delivered under a ‘rolling acquisition program’. Initially we assumed this meant that submarines would be produced continuously under the same sort of …
The release of the Panama Papers this week has set a new record for the largest volume of data that has ever been leaked. The 2.6 terabytes of data, consisting of 11.5 million documents previous …
Soft power is essential to any nation wishing to influence others. A term coined by Harvard professor, Joseph Nye, it’s an alternative to the traditional diplomatic theory of ‘carrot or stick’ (economic and military power). …
It’s astonishing to see the conservative inheritors of Churchill’s mantle clamouring to escape the European Union. It‘s even more astonishing to see the looming destruction of a grand alliance—the purpose of which was to prevent …
China’s militarised fishing fleet is Beijing’s analogue to Russia’s ‘little green men’. The protection of ‘innocent actors’ from local authorities (for instance, the Indonesian Coast Guard lawfully defending its EEZ) is only the latest event …
Sea State The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) rejected claims made by The Independent last week that the Falkland Islands have been left without the protection of a warship for the first time since the …
In ‘The expanding of the shrew’ Andrew Davies offered up an interesting view of warship nomenclature and why the future frigate should be classified as a cruiser because the displacement for the vessel could be …
One thing is guaranteed in New Zealand’s forthcoming Defence White Paper: Australia will be identified as Wellington’s leading defence partner by some margin. Australia’s importance to New Zealand’s planning suggests that Wellington’s best and brightest …
Donald Trump’s recent statements about US foreign policy—see the transcript of his exchange with The New York Times—serve to open up a point of electoral differentiation between the candidates. But they also raise a deeper, …
Last December, Australian authorities searched the Sydney home of the alleged founder of Bitcoin, and in doing so brought virtual currencies back into the spotlight—this time with an Australian flavour. The search served as a …
Imagine yourself walking down the long corridor to the briefing room of the Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC). What would it be like to be providing strategic policy advice to the Chinese government? What would …
The standard political and military approach to journalists is to use and abuse. The hacks return it with gusto. When things go wrong and the going gets tough, the political/military approach shifts gear to shut …
Head honchos from 50 nations gathered in Washington DC this week for the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, a biennial gathering launched by President Barack Obama after he set out his vision for a …
Seventeen billion dollars will be needed to directly replace critical infrastructure between 2015 and 2050 due to the impact of natural disasters in Australia. That’s a key finding of this month’s report from the Australian …
The ADF has evidently looked at the recent development of land-based anti-ship missile (LBASM) capabilities in East Asia and decided it wants in (see paragraph 4.46 in the 2016 Defence White Paper). The Integrated Investment …
Since its formation in 2015, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and their operational arm the Australian Border Force have been the subject of significant criticism. A key accusation is that the ABF has …
As I’ve been doing for the last few years (2013, 2014 and 2015), here’s my analysis of the US Air Force’s most recent budget plans for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. As the defence press …
Recent changes in Japanese security policy have been applauded as ‘the biggest revisions in the country’s defense policy since adoption of the 1947 constitution’. There is a new National Security Council, a National Security Strategy, …
The Beat Documentary: counterfeiting US dollars in Peru Vice has published a 20 minute documentary that examines the underground US dollar counterfeit business in Peru—the current world leader at producing fake US currency. The doco …
After the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 dead, I wrote a commentary entitled ‘We Are At War’— and faced considerable criticism from readers, Europeans and non-Europeans alike. How dare I use …