Registration opens today (here) for ASPI’s 8-10 April 2014 international conference ‘The Submarine Choice.’ The conference will bring together senior political decision-makers, military officials, industry representatives and leading academics from Australia and overseas to discuss …
We’re kicking off today’s round-up with an interesting article on the complex relationship between military robots and their soldiers. Here’s an excerpt: From holding elaborate funerals for robots, complete with 21-gun salutes, valor medals, and memorial markers, …
Richard Herr was right to say that there was ‘no massacre of hopes’ in Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s visit to Suva to meet with Fiji’s Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama. As Richard noted, it proved …
There’s growing concern amongst analysts, and government officials alike that North Korea has begun to rapidly accelerate its development of advanced offensive cyber capabilities. I explored this in a recent journal article, which drew together …
As commentators continue to assess the significance of the Chinese Navy’s recent ‘Christmas Island cruise’, a sub-strand of anxiety focuses on Beijing’s growing influence in the South Pacific. The NZ Herald, for example, worries that …
The United States has thus far avoided getting publicly involved in the Indonesia–Australia spying row; however, it can’t afford to do so any longer. Australia has demonstrated a naiveté in thinking that public diplomacy rows …
Today ASPI and the Centre for International Governance Innovation released a special report, Facing West, Facing North: Canada and Australia in East Asia. The report offers a road map for future security and defence cooperation …
Justice Michael Kirby has a long ‘to do’ list for Kim Jong-un. The Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea, chaired by retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, released its report on Monday. It …
Mid-way through a powerfully-written post, Elbridge Colby lays down the following challenge for critics like Jake Douglas: do we ‘think China’s behaviour in not dangerous or even troubling’? My answer is that it’s indeed troubling …
Perhaps a bit dazed from the raucous success that was Safer Internet Day 2014, the European Commission may have taken the motto ‘let’s create a better Internet together’ a bit too far. Last Wednesday, the …
This week saw the long-awaited release of US President Obama’s Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity after a year of concentrated effort by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The document has been …
In their recent Strategist posts, Anthony Bergin and Peter Jennings propose closer defence cooperation between Australia and France, following the ASPI Australia–France Defence and Industry Dialogue. But surprisingly, both authors are largely silent about the …
The Valentine’s Day meeting in Suva between Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Fiji’s Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama proved more of a love-in than a confrontation. Predictions before the meeting suggested that confrontation—at least …
India will go to the polls by May 2014 and a new government will have a chance to shape foreign and economic policy. The ruling Congress Party and its allies have been struck by what …
From London to Davos to New York, the new year has seen China and Japan stepping up their war of rhetoric. Writing an op-ed in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain, …
At the end of January, ASPI hosted a 1.5 track defence and industry dialogue between Australian and French defence officials and think-tank and industry representatives. Why France and why now? Only the most one-eyed of …
Desultory interest is stirring once again amongst the occasional Minister and the chattering classes in making Defence efficient. In this quixotic quest ASPI has recently made a wide-ranging, well-reasoned submission to the Committee of Audit. …
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) are the go-to platform for US targeted killing as part of the ongoing War on Terror. Despite chatter about the possibility of fighter drones operating in contested airspace (a …
We’re kicking off today’s round-up with a useful primer from the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) on five strategic architectures that can be applied to the case of US–China confrontation. For an illustration of one of …
In addition the making a submission on defence efficiency to the National Commission of Audit, ASPI also provided on a paper on national security priorities. This paper addresses the dynamics behind Australia’s national security debate, …