Russian President Vladimir Putin sought this month to contrast the vibrant economies of Asia with the decadence of the West, signalling that Russia’s future lay with the East. The economic and political dominance of the …
Tensions have been rising in outer space in recent years, leading to a covert arms race and what some perceive as the brink of space warfare. Space-based technologies such as communications satellites are an integral …
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Poland has received daily threats from Russian propagandists that it will be next. Yet despite these high stakes, Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party government has decided …
Leaders from across the region are convening in Brisbane this week at the Asia–Pacific Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction. The meeting, co-hosted by Australia and the United Nations, will discuss ways to accelerate international …
There’s a sense of foreboding in New Delhi as Xi Jinping prepares to secure a third five-year term as China’s president. It’s expected that Xi’s appointment will be confirmed by the 20th congress of the Chinese Communist Party, …
Since its announcement a year ago, the AUKUS agreement linking the US and the UK to Australia’s ambition to acquire nuclear-powered submarines has divided opinion. Critics have portrayed the pact as an alliance that could …
Despite Ukraine’s recent impressive counteroffensive around Kharkiv, the war with Russia has reached a prolonged deadlock. But there is one clear winner: the US arms industry. Some view these companies as the ‘arsenal of democracy’, …
Since the modern South Pacific arrived in the 1960s and 1970s, the United States has handed significant regional responsibility to Australia and New Zealand. America would do the duties of the big external power in …
The AUKUS partnership is of profound importance for Australia’s military capabilities, as a broader strategic framework and as a practical reflection of the friendship among three democratic nations with shared values. Both the nuclear-powered submarine …
The AUKUS pact is an important piece of regional architecture that has the potential to operate as a technology accelerator to strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. It seeks to do this by enhancing …
‘Too big to fail.’ How’s that for a bit of pressure on the AUKUS partnership on its first birthday? In this episode, ASPI executive director Justin Bassi speaks with Becca Wasser, defence fellow and head …
Over the past 60 years, Indonesia has been transformed: it has gone from the economic and political chaos of Sukarno’s ‘guided democracy’—a near-failed state and regional pariah—to become an economically successful democracy and regional leader, …
The prospect of the Royal Australian Navy’s promised nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) being built in Australia is firming up, along with a determination that they will be of a design shared with the United States or …
The state funeral of a respected international leader is always a solemn event but inevitably also an occasion for an impromptu summit. Certainly, a wide range of issues including the war in Ukraine, the global …
Behind Ukraine’s euphoria about the success of its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s troops is a lingering alarm about what Moscow might do next. ‘Fear is always there, but Russia likes to be feared,’ Ukraine’s ambassador …
The Western media will focus its coverage of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit beginning today in Uzbekistan on the dynamic between three of the most powerful leaders in the world—Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime …
Russia’s war against Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin began in 2014 and expanded in February, has taken a dramatic turn following Ukrainian forces’ liberation, in less than a week, of some 8,800 square kilometres of …
A significant proportion of defence commentary these days is focused on quickly and cost-effectively enhancing the Australian Defence Force’s lethality in the context of China’s growing power and assertiveness. Much of this discussion is concerned …
The $1 billion failure of the Super Seasprite helicopter project was a low point in Australian government procurement. It seems incomprehensible that the Department of Defence could ever replicate it. In detailing a rapid deterioration …
‘How did you go bankrupt?’ ‘Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.’ ― Ernest Hemingway, The sun also rises As with bankruptcy so with military defeat. What appears to be a long, painful grind can quickly turn into a …