Intelligence and security
Policy Briefs
Taiwan Flashpoint: What Australia Can Do to Stop the Coming Taiwan Crisis
Australian diplomacy could ease rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, if Australian policymakers rediscovered an appetite for involvement in the flashpoint.
Suspicion creeps into the Five Eyes
The world’s oldest intelligence partnership turned 73 this year. Traditionally, trust amongst spies is a rare commodity, but the UKUSA Agreement of 1946 (commonly known as the …
Time for Five Eyes to coordinate on Chinese tech investment
The recent exposure of Chinese influence-peddling inside the Australian political system is just one example of China’s growing influence and willingness to act in Western states…
Separating out important intelligence reforms from Home Affairs
The long-awaited release of the unclassified version of the 2017 Intelligence Review is now at hand. Released by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the same time as he…
Digital diplomacy links (defence special): White Paper, Army blogging, honeytraps and more
The launch of the Defence White Paper was a hot mess of hashtags: Prime Minister Turnbull (#DWP2016), Defence Minister Payne (#2016DWP), the Department of Defence (…
Innocent passage: Did the US just fumble its South China Sea strategy?
The difference between freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) and warships transiting under 'innocent passage' sounds arcane and legalistic. But this wonkish distinction…
As RAN prepares to exercise with China's navy, Australia risks a PR disaster
Australia and its Navy are in an awkward spot, caught between China and the US in the full glare of a global media spotlight shone on the South China Sea.
Two Royal Australian…
Opportunity cost in Australia's future submarine decision
I'm only too ready to leave it up to strategic experts such as Rear Admiral Peter Briggs to sort out how many submarines we need. I'll stick to the economics. We shouldn't let the…
Australia's Future Submarine Project: The urgent need for economic scrutiny
The pace of decision-making on Australian submarines is quickening, with the core of the current debate driven exclusively by South Australian politics. But the insistent voices…
Is Russia's growing intervention in Syria a game changer?
The latest analysis of the Syrian conflict from the Institute for the Study of War provides a detailed examination of what it describes (correctly) as a game changer.
Assuming…