I was in Malaysia last week at the 2nd Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum, and on Friday I reported on the outcomes of the Conference on Maritime Confidence Building Measures (MCBMs) in the South China Sea that …
The South China Sea is ‘probably the world’s single most complex, and intractable, international relations problem’. Gareth Evans, in proclaiming the South China Sea as the biggest and most complex headache, didn’t mention any of …
It’s another public holiday here in sunny Canberra, but we thought these posts from our archives would be topical to revisit. First up, submarines: last week saw Cameron Stewart publish articles on the prospects for life …
The US and Japan agreed to expand defence cooperation during Secretaries Kerry and Hagel’s visit to Tokyo this week. Hagel said: Our bilateral defense cooperation, including America’s commitment to the security of Japan, is a …
Online security firm Symantec has released a report detailing the activities of an online ‘hackers-for hire’ group it has dubbed ‘Hidden Lynx’. The company claims the group possesses levels of capability and sophistication not seen …
The attacks on Westgate mall in Nairobi provide a number of insights into the decision making cycle of a terrorist organisation, some of which we tend to pay insufficient attention to. The targeting of a …
At a time when Australian attention obsesses with China to the dangerous exclusion of much else, one of the quiet success stories in growing bilateral relations has been between the United States and India. In …
Today marks the 20th anniversary of recent history’s best known small-scale battle, immortalised in Ridley Scott’s movie Black Hawk Down. An attempt by a small US special operations force to apprehend two of Somali warlord …
At a seminar in the Stimson Center in late August, Brad Roberts, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defense, canvassed the future of US extended deterrence and strategic stability in Northeast Asia. In an …
This morning Professor Gareth Evans, Chancellor of the Australian National University, launched a new National Security College publication on the South China Sea and Australia’s regional security environment, Occasional Paper No 5, Crawford School of …
Speaking to Marines who’ve borne the brunt of combat in Afghanistan, President Obama said last month that the core of al-Qaeda (AQ) is on the way to defeat. But after the appalling terrorist violence we’ve …
RAND has just released Paths to Victory: lessons from modern insurgencies, a report that uses case studies of the 71 insurgencies completed since World War II to (among other things) identify the approaches that give a …
China’s the great question mark, but its power isn’t in question. Pose this central conundrum of the Asia Essentials in the succinct terms of the question that Hillary Clinton put to PM Rudd in 2009: …
Three-dimensional printing, also known as positive prototyping, represents a way to overcome the resource waste associated with manufacturing where items are cut to fit: it prints objects directly to specification. While the Australian debate about …
At first glance, the ASPI and CIGI push for Australia to help Canada engage our region to advance its economic interests doesn’t make much sense. Canada is doing nicely already—like in China for example (PDF)—and …
It’s Family & Community Day here in Canberra so we’re off enjoying Floriade! We’ll be back tomorrow with our usual considered analysis, stats and graphs for your reading pleasure. The Strategist team Image courtesy of Flickr user Brenden …
US Secretary of State John Kerry finds it hard to focus on Asia, writes Robert Kaplan. John Kerry has made his choice. Chaos in the Middle East is more important to him than historic power …
The African continent is a key battleground in the global Islamist jihad. The horrific terrorist attacks in Kenya this week perpetrated by al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab tragically highlight this fact. In the interests of Australia’s long-term …
Back in August, ASPI’s Tanya Olgivie-White commented on James Manicom’s analysis on Canada’s engagement in the Asia-Pacific. This was the first in a three-part collaborative effort on Australia–Canada security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific undertaken between …
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s visit to Indonesia, starting on 30 September, will set the tone for the bilateral relationship, at least for the first term of the Coalition Government. The stakes are high: Mr Abbott …