What are we to do with Big Data? Edward Snowden has kick-started a public debate about the legitimate scope of intelligence in a world of digital interconnectivity, and last week Klee Aiken asked us to …
The recent ANAO report on the Defence capability reform highlights the key role now played by the Defence Capability Plan (DCP). Since its introduction in 2000, the DCP has come to dominate the ADF capability …
A new term has become popular in Chinese political parlance over the last few years. This neologism—‘high-speed railway diplomacy’ (高铁外交)—is used to describe the mechanisms by which China’s burgeoning capacities in high-speed railway (HSR) construction …
In the words of my namesake, Washington has exposed one of The Things We Dare Not Tell. We all know and accept that Australia spies on foreign leaders, but like Fight Club, the first rule …
The United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel recently released his Department’s new Arctic Strategy during a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum. This document follows the US National Strategy for the Arctic Region …
When you change the government, you change the country, a previous Prime Minister once said. And one of the many things that changes is the way a new government thinks about international relations and the …
Well, what a week. On Saturday, China announced an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. The area overlaps Japanese and South Korean (and Taiwanese) claims—here’s a good graphic from the NYT. …
In the flurry of criticism over China’s air defence identification zone in the South China Sea, the fact that New Zealand’s Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman has been visiting his Chinese counterpart has been lost in …
China has been strongly criticised for its sudden announcement of an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea. This comes just after the withering international criticism it faced for its early response …
Hovering close to the table at the annual Australia–US ministerial were ghosts, spirits and spectres. New Zealand still qualifies as a ghost at this son-of-ANZUS feast, but in recent years the Kiwis have been edging …
For the United States and its allies other than Japan, ownership of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands doesn’t matter. What matters is the contest for influence in Asia which is being played out through the dispute, with …
When discussing China’s South China Sea (SCS) strategy, it’s necessary to begin by asserting that there is in fact a strategy that’s readily discernible from public documents and pronouncements. Though there’s been some disagreement over …
The need for Australian engagement with Asia is natural and obvious, but that doesn’t mean that we should focus only on Asia in our international policy. Today ASPI and the Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa published a …
On 23 November, Beijing declared an East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), which not only overlaps significantly with Japan’s but also with Taiwan’s and South Korea’s ADIZs. While the Chinese Ministry of Defense insists …
Although it went largely unnoticed, at the end of October the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) released its performance audit of Capability Development Reform in Defence. It has all the weaknesses, strengths and charm we’ve …
It isn’t often that US think tanks put pen to paper about Australian strategic and defence policy. All the more reason, then, for us to look closely at those reports that are published, just to …
Graeme Dobell produced two nice pieces on naval navel gazing, but perhaps lacks the courage of his earlier convictions! In his latest post he posits that: ‘The central strategic tension in Oz naval navel gazing …
As the annual AUSMIN consultations between American and Australian foreign and defence ministers concluded in Annapolis, I was busy attending the Australian Institute of International Affairs 80th national conference. Perhaps it was the influence of …
The current spat between Australia and Indonesia, now centred around intelligence gathering, is also ensnaring Australia’s management of its maritime domain after Indonesia suspended intelligence cooperation on maritime people smuggling. The Coalition’s asylum seeker policy …
It’s my fault. I should have known better, really. I foolishly issued a challenge asking those who insist we need an amphibious capability to make their case—and Peter Dean quickly did. The essential point is …