Commentators are suggesting Prime Minister Abbott and Defence Minister Johnston haven’t completely discounted the possibility of acquiring the jump-jet version of our future F-35 fighter, and might even be keen on the idea. As a …
The issue of ballistic missile defence (BMD) was a controversial one when US President Reagan first advocated a strategic-level system in the early 1980s. It remains so today—defences against theatre- and tactical-range missiles are gradually …
The headline gives you the guts of the idea. In the diarchy that runs Defence, the military man sits atop the civilian: the chief of the Australian Defence Force now looms above the secretary of …
Welcome to our first edition of ‘suggests’ from Washington, DC. I’m currently located at the Center for a New American Security where I’m being kindly hosted as a visiting fellow focusing on Indonesia. You can find …
Thailand’s Army Chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha has detained representatives from all sides that went to meet him at the Army Club in Bangkok yesterday afternoon, finally declaring a coup. He must have known it would …
Tony Abbott’s early June visit to Ottawa, Washington, and New York and then to France for the 70th anniversary of the D-day landings, offers a platform for the Prime Minister to set directions in one essential …
The massive landslide victory of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s recent parliamentary election will have been received with mixed feelings in neighbouring Pakistan. Still, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was one of …
A recent Foreign Policy article argued that China’s deployment of a billion-dollar offshore oil rig into maritime territory claimed by both Vietnam and China represents a potentially dangerous escalation of tensions in the South China …
The debate over what constitutes strategy has been enjoyable but, inevitably, failed to reach a shared agreement over the proper shape of the beast. That’s all to the good because strategy is a big concept …
The strategy debate on this blog has come to resemble a major crisis in the South China Sea where the interactions between multiple claimants almost take on a life of their own. What started with …
Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice indicted five People’s Liberation Army officials for hacking into the computers of US companies to steal trade secrets. The indictment alleges that the PLA Five stole information …
Narendra Modi has come to power because the Indian electorate, particularly the 50% of Indians who are under 25, wants a leadership committed to rapid economic growth. For him to deliver on that promise he’ll …
As Indonesia prepares for the presidential election in July, one of the big questions concerns defence and security: in particular, to what extent will Indonesia’s new president reshape Indonesia’s future strategic policy? Here, I’m not …
In declaring Martial Law on Tuesday, the Thai Army commander, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, appears to have sought to avert a catastrophe. Conscious of the bloodshed on the streets of Bangkok in May 2010 and eager …
It seems like this is a year for military anniversaries. July, of course, will see the centenary of the beginning of World War I, and June 6 will be 70 years on from the invasion …
I found Brendan Taylor’s view that Foreign Affairs shouldn’t do strategy because they don’t have a ‘few battalions hidden away in the bowels of ‘Gareth’s Gazebo’ somewhat bizarre. Along with the Defence Minister, Foreign Minister …
Last Tuesday’s Commonwealth budget saw a small increase in funding to the Australian Federal Police for next year. But the planned cuts to AFP in the years beyond are large—the Commonwealth contribution to their budget …
A week after its publication, Jenny Hayward-Jones’ forensic and provocative Lowy paper Australia’s costly investment in Solomon Islands: the lessons of RAMSI has been widely reported but hardly stirred a peep from commentators I expected …
Peter Jennings’ post ‘Why doesn’t DFAT do strategy’ has resulted in a series of posts that explore both the nature of strategy and the claim that DFAT doesn’t do strategy. This claim, readers will recall, …
The most important and often overlooked thing Japan can do to support the US pivot and the long-term strength of the US-Japan alliance is to fix its economy and, in turn, further deepen and broaden …