In my previous post, I suggested that Australia has insufficient submarine personnel to start a transition to nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) while maintaining its existing operational capability to deploy at least two Collins-class submarines in …
The Covid-19 pandemic marks the end of the great era of globalisation. Now the troubled times of decoupling arrive. We are at a Matthew Arnold moment: Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless …
Graphic online depictions of sexual assault, homophobia and racist imagery (sometimes involving Australian lawmakers) and life-threatening intimidation (including calling for targets to kill themselves) are a growing part of the Chinese Communist Party’s toolkit of …
Plenty of security experts feel that the defence industry could learn a bit from Silicon Valley when it comes to moving more quickly, embracing disruption and making quicker decisions. One of them is Bill Greenwalt …
‘Follow the money’ to disrupt criminal and terrorist networks is a central tenet of law enforcement and counterterrorism policymaking. For decades, this thinking has driven the global development and implementation of ever more sophisticated anti-money-laundering …
Sea state The Russian navy says it repelled a drone attack in the bay of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula, where Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet is based. Russia claimed that all aerial and maritime drones …
The Chinese Communist Party adopted a resolution on an amendment to its constitution at the closing session of the 20th national congress. The constitution describes the role of the party and its organisational structure, principles …
On 8 November, Americans will vote in midterm congressional elections to determine all 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the 100 seats in the Senate. Despite the political theatre, Australians should take heart. …
Submarines provide a unique, asymmetrical capability, giving the Australian government a range of options not offered by other platforms. Their critical importance has been emphasised in multiple defence white papers, most notably since 2009 when …
In its new national security strategy, US President Joe Biden’s administration recognises that Russia and China each present a different kind of challenge. Whereas Russia ‘poses an immediate threat to the free and open international …
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought renewed focus on questions of munitions stockpiling and production capacity. Efforts to secure as many modern anti-armour weapons from whoever can provide them have been a prominent feature …
The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, ostensibly the party’s highest leadership body, is not where real power is contested, but is a performative exercise used to legitimise China’s undemocratic leadership. The recent 20th …
Economic sanctions have become the weapon of choice in the United States’ diplomatic and strategic arsenal. Trade tariffs, export controls and other financial penalties offer a quick means to punish ‘bad behaviour’, whether by terrorist …
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. Resilience is a nation’s ability …
The abysmal failure of Russia’s weaponry in President Vladimir Putin’s brutal and ill-conceived war on Ukraine should compel a reconsideration of India’s traditional overdependence on Russian armaments. A dossier compiled by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence …
Planet A Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt has announced that the Albanese government is actively considering options for a dedicated natural disaster response workforce. This comes as the Australian Defence Force deploys more personnel to …
During the past month, the relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has fallen to its lowest ebb in a decade. After the shock decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting …
High inflation, rising interest rates, falling currencies and volatile energy prices, together with an economic slowdown and post-pandemic budget woes, may increase pressure on the ASEAN+3—the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, …
In 1946, US President Harry Truman, addressing Congress on the state of the Lend-Lease program, observed: ‘On balance, the contribution made by Australia, a country having a population of about 7 million, approximately equalled that …
Space is increasingly a contested operational domain. A major contributor to this is the development and testing of counterspace capabilities (also referred to as anti-satellite weapons or ASATs) by some countries. ASATs are designed to …