Late in 2022—a year of war, pandemic, climatic disaster and attempted nuclear coercion—a number of news outlets published a photograph of a rare event. True, the photograph was of particular interest to only a small …
Originally published 17 October 2022. Iran’s mass movement of popular protest, sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of the country’s notorious morality police, has now entered its fifth …
Originally published 26 September 2022. The smoke has cleared from China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait last month, and the sequence of events highlights some of the realities of the regional security outlook. US …
Originally published 2 November 2022. We often think about national resilience at times of crisis or conflict. However, the foundations for resilience are built with every decision we make before a crisis begins to unfold. …
Originally published 29 April 2022. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says China’s security deal with Solomon Islands was a ‘politically illiterate’ move if Beijing is sincere about improving relations with Australia. Speaking at an ASPI …
Originally published 27 October 2022. After a year of intense research, the head of the 350-strong nuclear-powered submarine taskforce is confident the Royal Australian Navy will be equipped with SSNs. Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead tells …
Originally published 28 March 2022. When the draft security agreement between Solomon Islands and China landed in the news cycle on Thursday, we shared a sense of dread. Initial analysis of the agreement in the …
Originally published 31 March 2022. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the poorer than expected performance of the Russian army have prompted fierce debate among military commentators on why Russia’s much-vaunted military reforms of the …
Originally published 14 October 2022. Rumours that President Xi Jinping was under house arrest amid a military coup in China—apparently driven by Falun Gong–linked social media accounts known for spreading factually problematic information—spread widely in …
When is a coup not a coup? When it’s called a constitutional crisis. But make no mistake, there’s a coup attempt in progress in Fiji, even if its foot soldiers are in the bureaucracy and …
Few will miss 2022, a year defined by a lingering pandemic, advancing climate change, galloping inflation, slowing economic growth and, more than anything else, the outbreak of a costly war in Europe and concerns that …
In an address to the National Press Club this month, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil expressed deep concern about the national security implications of climate change. ‘When Home Affairs was created, the discussion about climate change and …
Democracy has been increasingly securitised in recent years, but that’s set to change, as outlined in Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s National Press Club speech earlier this month. The big question is, what does the …
After their latest AUSMIN talks, Australia’s defence and foreign ministers and their US equivalents noted that the alliance and partnership had never been stronger or more vital to regional peace and prosperity. They resolved to …
Ukraine will enter 2023 with wind in its sails. Against all odds, it repelled Russia’s initial attempt to take Kyiv, then recaptured extensive territory around Kharkiv and Kherson, and inflicted heavy losses on the invading …
Dictators stay in power with one another’s help. As a Venezuelan pro-democracy activist told Lithuania’s recent Future of Democracy forum when asked how dictator Nicolás Maduro holds on to power, the answer is always the …
Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s trip to Beijing this week was the next logical step in the bilateral thaw and should be welcomed by everyone who wants Australia to be well positioned for the turbulent decades …
Security cooperation between India and Australia has taken another step forward. The two countries recently completed the inaugural round of a joint military exercise, Austra Hind 2022, involving the Indian and Australian armies. This is …
The world has witnessed the outbreak of economic warfare this year, quite unlike anything seen since the end of World War II. The machinery of economic sanctions, which has been honed over decades against minor …
The aim of an Australian Defence Force conventional deterrence by denial capability is to ensure that key combat and support assets survive initial enemy air and missile attacks should Australia become involved in a high-intensity …