The strategic policy chapter in the 2016 defence white paper doesn’t provide a framework to determine priorities for force structure, posture and employment. Old concepts such as ‘self-reliance’ have become divorced from their original strategic …
Four years have now passed since the release of the 2016 defence white paper, the most recent comprehensive review of Australia’s defence policy and capability. The main contours of that document were set down as …
Australia’s Defence Department is a big beast that’s hard to ride, much less steer. The complexities of kit, costs and strategy have made it the most inquiry-prone animal in Canberra—50 reviews in five decades (35 …
Last week, newly inaugurated Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo introduced one of his new ministers with these words: ‘I believe I don’t have to tell him about his job—he knows more than I do.’ Until …
Agree or disagree with Hugh White’s prognosis of Australia’s strategic situation, options and potential responses, at least he has tabled the subject, and shaken more of the general public out of their comfort zone. We’ll …