![\"Image](\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/9156677868_0df2be7037_z.jpg\" "\\"Image")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Welcome back for another week, this time as ASPI wraps up what has been an action-packed and star-studded program at our <\/span>Defence White Paper conference<\/span><\/a>. If you haven\u2019t been streaming online or following the conversation on Twitter (<\/span>#DWP16ASPI<\/span><\/a>), keep an eye on <\/span>our YouTube channel<\/span><\/a> next week for the recorded rundown.<\/span><\/p>\n Andrew Shearer, former National Security Advisor to Tony Abbott, has been camped out at CSIS in DC for the last few months. Shearer this week released a strong new report advocating for deeper maritime cooperation between Australia, Japan and the US. Check out the full report <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>, head on over to YouTube to <\/span>watch the launch event<\/span><\/a>, and to the <\/span>ABC<\/span><\/i> to catch Shearer\u2019s <\/span>subs-centric chat <\/span><\/a>with The World Today.<\/span><\/p>\n Can the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateralise the \u2018noodle bowl\u2019 of Asia\u2013Pacific trade agreements? Find out in a <\/span>new paper from the Perth USAsia Centre<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n You likely sensed it but now the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has presented the hard data to confirm that <\/span>global military spending is on the rise<\/span><\/a> (PDF). SIPRI estimates that global military expenditure totalled US$1.7 trillion in 2015\u2014up 1% on the previous year. The US is still top of the pops, despite its spend falling 2.4%. On the way up are China with a rise of 7.4%, and Russia with a rise of\u00a07.5%. Head on over to SIPRI to see their\u00a0<\/span>interactive map and a stack of infographics<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The New York Review of Books<\/span><\/i> has <\/span>an excellent piece<\/span><\/a> this week on the increasingly tight restrictions on freedom of speech in China. It also offers an interesting look at the history of the country\u2019s political propaganda.<\/span><\/p>\n Looking at a different kind of propaganda, <\/span>this essay over at Lawfare<\/span><\/a>\u00a0explores\u00a0the factors that enable Daesh\u2019s offline propaganda strategy. In a longer\u00a0<\/span>historical piece<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Foreign Policy<\/span><\/i> examines the conception of the idea of an Islamic State and the factors that contribute to Islam becoming \u2018the handmaiden of the rulers\u2019. Also worth the read is <\/span>this piece at <\/span>War on the Rocks<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which offers an in-depth study on Russian boots on the ground in the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n Our days of suggesting the best reading and analysis picks on The Donald may be limited after the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday where both Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders emerged victorious, closing the gap between their front-runner counterparts. <\/span>The New Yorker<\/span><\/i>\u00a0dives into\u00a0<\/span>the rhetoric of the two main Republican candidates<\/span><\/a> after Wisconsin, while <\/span>The Economist<\/span><\/i> asks just how fatal<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the Cheese State’s blow was to the Trump campaign. For news from the other side of the campaign, <\/span>Politico<\/span><\/i> has a piece<\/span><\/a> on whether Sanders’\u00a0recent successes will be enough to secure him the Democratic nomination, while <\/span>Vox <\/span><\/i>takes a controversial stance<\/span><\/a> by arguing that the Sanders campaign is worse off now than it was before Wisconsin.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcasts<\/b><\/p>\n In an exclusive interview for Politico\u2019s <\/span>Off Message<\/span><\/i> podcast, Hillary Clinton sat down to\u00a0discuss everything from the 2008 campaign to rival Bernie Sanders\u2019 alignment to the Democrats. For all those swotting\u00a0up on\u00a0the race, <\/span>check it out here<\/span><\/a> (58 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n CSIS\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Smart Women, Smart Power<\/span><\/i> podcast series has an interesting offering this week:\u00a0<\/span>an interview with Heather Penney<\/span><\/a> (32 mins), former USAF fighter pilot. She discusses the difficulty that air forces have with retaining both women and millennials in one of the most challenging careers on earth, along with\u00a0what personnel policies need to change to alter that.<\/span><\/p>\n Videos<\/b><\/p>\n VICE News travelled to Israel and the West Bank to explore the inflammatory role of social media is playing in what some fear is shaping up to be the Third Intifada. Catch up with the documentary <\/span>online<\/span><\/a> (36 mins). It\u2019s also worth checking out this strong piece from October 2015: <\/span>The Intifada Will Be Instagrammed<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n With 45,000 segments, it can be hard to visualise just how large and imposing the Berlin Wall was. A great data visualisation project has sought to remedy this. There\u2019s a hypnotic collapsing simulation <\/span>available over at Vimeo<\/span><\/a>, and some stills from the project <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Canberra: \u2018Middle power\u2019 mightn\u2019t be the descriptor <\/span>du jour <\/span><\/i>here<\/span> in Australia but seems the same can\u2019t be said for our Anglosphere pals up in Canada. <\/span>Professor Kim Richard Nossal from the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, will present on the role of middle powers in the Asia\u2013Pacific, and participate in a panel discussion with some of the sharpest minds at ANU\u2019s SDSC. Register <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Also in the capital this week, Sidney Jones\u2014director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta\u2014will speak at the AIIA\u2019s national office on the recent patterns of violent extremism in Indonesia. Check out <\/span>the event page<\/span><\/a> for more information.<\/span><\/p>\n