The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to impact global security, challenging standard principles of defence planning and national strategy. Middle powers, whether they be close to the aggression, like Poland, or far from it, like …
Australia and Japan have enjoyed a special strategic partnership since 2014, but present momentum, evident through their 2022 joint declaration on security cooperation and reciprocal access agreement, suggests strong appreciation of threats to regional stability. …
Artificial intelligence (AI) presents Australia’s security as many challenges as it does opportunities. While it could create mass-produced malware, lethal autonomous weapons systems, or engineered pathogens, AI solutions could also prove the counter to these …
This year marked a decade since the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which resulted in over 1,100 deaths. On the morning of 24 April 2013, workers were instructed to enter garment factories …
Security weaknesses and cyber ‘doors left open’, employees turned rogue, and hackers demanding ransom, all demonstrate dramatically the need for strong critical infrastructure risk management. Examples of how vulnerabilities will be exploited were highlighted in …
Rare-earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals are the world’s building blocks for emerging and future technologies and are essential to manufacturing, clean energy production, semiconductor production, and the defence and aerospace industries. Their supply and …
Summit season is in full swing, with the East Asia, BRICS and G20 leaders’ gatherings over the last month and APEC summit yet to come in November in San Francisco. It takes a balloonist’s tolerance …
Wargaming has returned to the fore as a tool for military planning. US think tanks are outcompeting each other in wargaming a Taiwan contingency, with their recommendations amplified by mainstream media. One recent war game …
This week, global leaders and heads of state gather in New York for the annual United Nations High-level Week marking the opening of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. On the agenda this year …
Our security depends more and more on space. Today’s militaries depend on space systems for operations on land or sea, in the air, or in many cases, in cyberspace. Space technologies are integral to our …
In a welcome development last year, TikTok announced that it would start publishing insights about the covert influence operations it identifies and removes from its platform globally in its quarterly community guidelines enforcement reports. Since …
Time can be cruel. Infatuations and honeymoons must reach their end. Emotions subside, our better selves fall, exhausted, by the wayside, and deeper character traits will out. A truly democratic South Africa, a ‘rainbow nation’, …
Australia’s most senior military officer has warned that the nation faces complex and interwoven threats including high-end military capabilities, economic coercion, climate change and AI-driven dangers to democracy in a post-truth world. In his address …
Sea state North Korea has launched its first submarine able to fire nuclear-armed missiles. The diesel-electric-powered Hero Kim Kun-ok is intended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to counter the nuclear-capable forces of the United …
Resilience, the economy and national security are a live discussion across Australia. People can feel change in their bones, from the climate to mortgage repayments—even Australia’s place in the world. These discussions are happening on …
Australia has a relatively new but well-proven adjunct to its crisis and disaster management tools. While previous frameworks focused on intra-governmental planning and response, the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) embraces the capabilities of the public, …
‘Strategy without money is just hot air.’ — Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles speaking at ASPI’s 2023 conference, 14 September, Canberra At ASPI’s national conference, the deputy PM and defence minister was …
Internet connectivity is a lifeline—albeit a fragile one—for Taiwan. A recent war game staged in Taipei with experts from the military, tech industries, academia and government suggested that, in the event of a Chinese blockade, …
Strategic competition in the region has provided Pacific island leaders with both an opportunity and motivation to build their security capabilities. For some, that could include standing up a military for the first time. Both …
On 14 December 1944, the Royal Australian Fleet Auxiliary freighting tanker Bishopdale was in the Philippines in San Pedro Bay refuelling Australian and Allied forces when it was attacked by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft. Able …