Sea State Last week, the US Navy’s lead Zumwalt-class destroyer commenced its first sea trial. The vessel departed from the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine for its open ocean trials, eight years after construction …
John Coyne’s recent Strategist post raises some interesting questions for intelligence agencies and their paymasters; namely, what are the capabilities that agencies require to continue to protect our security, and what’s a reasonable expectation of …
There are growing fears that Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a new beachhead for the extremism of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Particular attention has focused on Indonesia, the world’s most …
With the Government confirming that it has received three proposals under the future submarine competitive evaluation process (CEP) it’s worth considering where we’re headed. There’s a consensus emerging among analysts and commentators that the CEP …
The north of Australia is booming with recognition of significant export opportunities into Asian markets across a number commodity types. In the first quarter of 2014, just over 90,000 cattle were exported from Darwin, mostly …
What were once considered ‘non-traditional threats’ to continental regions of Eurasia and the Americas are now central security challenges for the Pacific island nations. The South Pacific is a region under siege as climate change …
The Southeast Asian rejection of Australia joining ASEAN is simply expressed: ‘You’re not from around here. You don’t think like us. You don’t belong.’ The argument is about identity defined through geography. The previous column …
Dear Strategist readers, It’s been over six months since our blog had a facelift! We’re always looking to improve The Strategist so we would like you to let us know how we can keep delivering considered …
Welcome back to another round-up of reading picks, podcasts and videos in security and defence. America is not ready to fight today’s ‘grey war’s, says former US Special Operations Commander Eric T. Olsen. Defined as conflicts …
The security challenges across the globe are numerous and complex, and the post-Cold War peace dividend is an increasingly distant memory. I see two main security trends at play. The first is ungoverned spaces and …
It’s been 40 years since a UK defence review meant much to Australia and the Asia–Pacific, but the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, released last month, signals a sea change. …
Having an argument with Jim Molan is enlightening and rewarding. The ex-Major General delivers a triple treat. With Jim, you always know: Where he’s coming from Where he’s aiming And where he’s crunched you With …
In The Longest Conflict: Australia’s Climate Security Challenge, I argued Australia’s ‘longest conflict’ this century would be the struggle to address our climate vulnerabilities at home and abroad. Our national security approach to a changing …
The Beat Flaws in global efforts to counter money laundering A new report on the consultation between Britain’s National Crime Agency and businesses was released this week, which informed the NCA’s recent national risk assessment of money …
Does New Zealand have a more realistic view of its strategic environment than Australia? Given that many hard-headed Australian strategists think that New Zealand freeloads on Australia’s security efforts, even raising such a question will …
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris, we’ve seen a reinvigorated debate about ‘boots on the ground’ in the fight against daesh, and the US is slowly edging towards greater ground operations in …
From 24 to 30 November, the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) convened in The Hague to hear oral arguments on merit in the The Republic of Philippines v The People’s Republic of China case …
Following on from Xi Jinping’s September state visit, Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun met with US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch in Washington last week to discuss …
In his recent Strategist contribution, David Lang nailed a critical, but sadly missing, dimension of the counter terrorism intelligence debate regarding encryption. David put it perfectly when he argued that encryption is a ‘central contributor …
Public awareness of terrorism fluctuates depending on the proximity and level of terror threat. Terrorism came into sharp focus for Australians with incidents such the 2002 Bali bombings and last year’s Martin Place siege. The …