After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the newly reunited Germany became a champion and leading exponent of the emerging liberal international order. Germany saw itself, and presented itself to the world, as an economically …
When an Australian jumps out of a taxi and prepares to make a dash across New York’s 5th Avenue, the habit of a lifetime is to look the wrong way for the traffic. Australia drives …
A more agile and capable US Marine Corps will be well placed to work closely with the Australian Defence Force to protect sensitive areas such as maritime choke points in the region, says its commandant, …
Reflecting on Australia’s armoured vehicle debate, it’s apparent that advocates and sceptics often talk past, rather than to, each other, with a sense of good faith sometimes lacking. The topic often sees the privileging of …
Planet A Last week, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the latest instalment of its 6th assessment report series, predicting that the earth is on a global warming trajectory of more than double …
The Australian government’s 2020 defence strategic update was released with a catchy tagline: ‘Shape. Deter. Respond.’ The second two of these strategic objectives are incontrovertibly part of the traditional role of the military: to deter …
Last September, the Australian government announced a review of defence innovation, science and technology following six years of operation of the Defence Innovation Hub. This news was quickly trumped when a mere three days later …
Since the British Type 26 was announced as the reference design for Royal Australian Navy’s nine Hunter-class frigates, the program has been controversial. The recent leaked report on the system design review was extremely negative, …
Amid a heightened fear in Europe of the Russian missile threat, Germany has expressed an interest in buying the Arrow 3 missile-defence system, a joint Israeli–US system designed to confront long-range Iranian missiles. At the …
Led by United Front Work Departments of Chinese Communist Party committees at each echelon of government, the united front system is a complex and opaque set of organisations designed to advance the CCP’s influence in …
How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will play out remains unclear. But it’s already been a geopolitical game-changer—in Europe and beyond. Russia’s aggression has jolted Europe out of its post–Cold War complacency. Lulled by decades of …
Russia’s terrible invasion of Ukraine is looming over the Indo-Pacific with its lessons for Taiwan’s relations with China. Some of those lessons are important reality checks. Assumptions about a nominally superior military force have been …
Most technological advances spark incremental progress. And then a few come along that are truly game-changing. AI is one of those truly transformative technologies. It’s set to revolutionise our lives and workplaces at rapid speed …
Australian foreign policy is characterised by the perpetual dilemma of grand strategy: aligning lofty aspirations (shaping the Indo-Pacific) with limited resources (a population of 26 million and relative economic decline). If Australia is to meet …
Imran Khan’s less than four-year stint as prime minister of Pakistan came to an abrupt end with his defeat in a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly on 9 April. His departure marked …
Why shouldn’t we believe Beijing’s claims that its security agreement with Honiara won’t result in a base or place to operate its navy from in Solomon Islands? Because we’ve seen this playbook before: in Djibouti …
Artificial intelligence is already ubiquitous in our lives and will be foundational to our future prosperity. In Australia, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has identified AI and machine learning as critical technologies …
A new website launched by ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre is designed to identify nations using deception operations to manipulate potential adversaries, and their own populations. The Understanding Global Disinformation and Information Operations website provides …
In this episode, ASPI Executive Director Peter Jennings speaks with Victorian Senator James Paterson, chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. They discuss the committee’s recent inquiry into national security risks affecting …
Fiji will soon vote on Frank Bainimarama, the military supremo who slowly morphed into an elected leader. The man who has driven and dominated Fiji’s politics since 2000 had urgent heart surgery in Australia in …