Solomon Islands is now more than 60 police vehicles and 60 semi-automatic rifles richer. In a demonstration of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s leverage of geostrategic competition, he squeezed in handover ceremonies from both Australia and …
The rocket strike that killed two Poles near their country’s border with Ukraine on 15 November proved to be a test not so much of defence policy as of the information policy of Poland, Ukraine …
The Labor government has given a ‘firm’ view to the parliamentary inquiry on war powers: don’t disturb the executive’s prerogative for sending Australia to war. But the reference letter to the committee says there’s room …
A term that was unknown only a week or so ago has entered the lexicon of Australian strategic thought: ‘impactful projection’. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles first used it in an …
Sea state On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed a £4.2 billion contract to BAE Systems, a defence, aerospace and security company, to build five Type 26 frigates for the Royal Navy. The contract, along with …
It is tempting to express a bit of triumphalist satisfaction at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s acquiescence in meeting with an Australian prime minister after six years of stubborn rejection. And it must be said, a …
In 1990, British psychologist James T. Reason developed his ‘cumulative act effect’ theory (also known as the ‘Swiss cheese model’) in which he argued that most accidents can be traced to one or more of …
After two launch scrubs due to fuel leaks and a hurricane, NASA has taken a giant leap back to the moon after almost 50 years’ absence with the successful launch of the Artemis I mission …
The strategic environment confronting Australia has led to significant debate by defence commentators on the force structure required to ensure that the Australian Defence Force can fight and win in a future conflict. Given the …
European leaders are breathing a huge sigh of relief following the Republicans’ failure to achieve a ‘red wave’ in the US midterm elections. While the final composition of the House of Representatives remains unknown, the …
It seems that hardly a day goes by without news of another Australian organisation being hit by a data breach. While the underlying causes and the actions we need to take to prevent them are …
Japan is unique among G7 nations in that it faces cascading threats from three hostile countries in its immediate neighbourhood. Russia, North Korea and China all have nuclear warheads and missiles that are increasingly advanced, …
After the recent midterm elections, Americans are breathing a sigh of relief that social-media-fuelled threats of violence against voters and election officials didn’t materialise. It’s a disturbing sign of the times that a peaceful vote …
Australia has been suffering a long death by a thousand cuts. We’ve had cybercriminals slowly bleeding our companies by forcing them to pay ransoms. We’ve had nation states stealing our intellectual property, robbing future generations …
The recent debate on The Strategist about whether Vietnam should have a maritime or continental geostrategic orientation has reinvigorated the long-term and historical interaction between the two strategic cultures. It also shows that it’s not …
Of all the vagaries we label as ‘non-traditional security’, none is more amusing or indicative of the role of digital networks than that of a compressed, grainy image of a Shiba Inu—a Japanese dog breed …
A year ago, following US President Joe Biden’s election, multilateralism once again became the beating heart of global climate action. G20 leaders agreed to more ambitious near-term climate targets en route to achieving net-zero emissions …
I write this article from Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan. Instead of stiffly sitting at my ergonomic desk, I’m reclined in a camel-skin tent. My phone lies forgotten in my backpack (there’s no reception here). I …
To maximise global influence, countries need to be sophisticated in deploying diplomatic efforts that project who they are in the world, both with existing partners and in the search for new ones. This point seems …
This year witnessed another milestone in the Australia–Japan ‘special strategic partnership’ as prime ministers Anthony Albanese and Fumio Kishida met in Perth on 22 October to issue a new joint declaration on security cooperation. This …