Australia and Asia
New Defence Guidelines re-brand US-Japan alliance
The US-Japan Defence Cooperation Guidelines are best thought of as an occasional re-branding exercise for the US-Japan alliance in response to changing strategic conditions…
Burma: The return of the 'vigilantes'
In 2011, Burma's hybrid civilian-military government launched an ambitious reform program that, among other things, envisaged the transfer of responsibility for Burma's internal…
America's China consensus slowly unravels
For a long time American (and Australian) thinking about China has been dominated by a broad consensus that, despite many signs of growing assertiveness, Beijing does not pose a…
The coming nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean
While the world focuses on the dangers that a nuclear-armed Iran could present in the Middle East, a potentially more dangerous and unstable nuclear proliferation is occurring in…
One belt, one road? China's community of common destiny
More details emerged over the weekend about two Chinese big-ticket initiatives, 'One Belt, One Road' and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Speaking at the Boao Forum…
Are the Khmer Rouge and ISIS similar?
Elliot Brennan's comparison between the Khmer Rouge and ISIS raises a number of questions.
No one is more aware than I of the terrible cost of Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia…
Shambaugh's China disaster scenario examined
'Always predict disaster', a shrewd academic economist told me some years ago. 'If it happens, you are proved right. And if it doesn't, then catastrophe was avoided by people…
In Malaysia, government demonstrates that it remains in control
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak, founder of the Global Movement of Moderates, has been widely praised by international leaders (including President Obama and…
Do we need 'full-spectrum defence'?
The first thing to say about Alan Dupont's recent paper is that he is absolutely correct about the dire condition of Australian strategic policy.
As he suggests, we lack a…
Modi builds India's sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just completed a ground-breaking tour of the Indian Ocean, aiming to consolidate India's leading role among the island states and counter China's…