{"id":249,"date":"2012-07-19T01:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T15:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=249"},"modified":"2012-08-06T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-06T04:53:45","slug":"think-of-insurance-rather-than-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/think-of-insurance-rather-than-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Think of insurance rather than threat"},"content":{"rendered":"
When the subject of defence spending surfaces in public debate, there are inevitable and regrettable exchanges about whether Australia faces a \u2018threat\u2019 that justifies the expenditure. This is understandable, given the psychology of warfare, but unfortunate from the point of view of clear thinking about defence spending and the purposes for which sophisticated and expensive platforms are usually purchased. Public debate would be raised to a more responsible and constructive level if, instead of focusing on \u2018threats\u2019, we thought in terms of insurance cover and premiums.<\/p>\n