Last month in Havana, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos claimed that ‘on 23 March 2016, we will be bidding farewell to the longest-running conflict in the Americas’—something indeed that Colombians have long wished for. Colombia’s …
It’s been 10 months in the planning, but when Indonesian President Joko Widodo flies to the United States next week the agenda for his 26 October meeting with President Barack Obama will be considerably different …
In considering Paul Dibb’s analysis on the Chinese PLA, I’d recommend anyone interested in the state of China’s military start by reading Roger Cliff’s China’s Military Power: Assessing Current and Future Capabilities. Cliff argues that …
The Commonwealth will shortly release a restricted tender to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to determine who should be the lead system integrator of the combat system in Australia’s future submarine. The task of the winning …
The Beat Unions call for stronger national systems to fight crime Australia’s police unions have banded together to reiterate their call for all branches of government to deliver stronger national systems to fight crime. In …
China’s top spy and Politburo member, Meng Jianzhu, made a highly unusual four-day visit to the US in early September where he forged an agreement between China and the US to cooperate more deeply on …
In recent weeks the airwaves have been aflutter with the idea that President Obama and Prime Minister Sharif might attempt to conclude some sort of nuclear deal during the latter’s visit to Washington on 22 …
Last week, attendees at the Australian Information Security Association conference were given a preview of the Australian cyber security strategy by PM&C official Lynwen Connick. Connick noted the importance of cybersecurity to future prosperity and …
Peter Dean and Ken Gleiman’s recent paper Beyond 2017: the Australian Defence Force and amphibious warfare is undoubtedly timely: first, because policy that will shape important decisions to be made within the ADF is expected …
In a rare moment of not talking about submarines or frigates at the recent PAC2015 meeting, we sat down for a talk with the good folk from MDBA, a multinational company that does a lot …
The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has been the subject of much discussion and not much action. The problem of transnational crime in Southeast Asia is severe—it’s expanding in scale and becoming more organised. Fuelled by …
Sea State On Saturday, naval warships, aircraft carriers and submarines from the US, India and Japan streamed into the Bay of Bengal as part of the Malabar exercises. A joint press release from the three countries claimed that …
Nuclear deterrence theory is often seen as the go-to solution to cyber instability. After suffering a sequence of alleged Chinese hacks on its corporations and government departments, the US prepared a suite of potential economic …
As final touches are applied to Australia’s new Defence White Paper, policymakers are being urged to ‘embrace’ ambiguity in international security policy. An elegant and deeply thoughtful paper by Singapore ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan (PDF) suggests …
Last week’s revelation that the Pentagon had been briefing Asian allies that US Navy warships would soon conduct freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea has ramped up tensions in the world’s most …
Paul Dibb recently wrote on The Strategist that China has long-term systemic problems which will prevent its continued rise to Asian great power status, and that as a ‘brittle state’, China can’t afford to go …
Groucho Marx got the conundrum into one great line: ‘I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.’ My argument that Australia should join the Association of …
Did Macbeth have PTSD? Back in the capital, my first pick is a provocative take by sociology professor Anthony King on one of Shakespeare’s most infamous characters. King’s analysis dissects Macbeth’s actions throughout the ‘Scottish play’ and relates …
Senior government officials met in Canberra this week to discuss how to ensure more young Australians don’t seek out or become drawn in to the militant Salafist orbit of ISIS, al Qaeda and other such …
Buried deep in the news about a tax bill of close to $6 million being served on three Victorian ‘racing identities’ was an even more important story: the Commonwealth, state and territory governments are close …