United States
The ripple effects of NATO expansion
After lengthy diplomatic toing-and-froing, Sweden has been inducted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), with some pundits quipping that the Baltic Sea is now…
A summit between Japan and North Korea? About time
North Korea keeps on surprising. While Pyongyang is busy erasing all references to unification with South Korea, it is extending an olive branch to Japan.
It all began early in…
Grand strategising: The view from outside
Leaders make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing. One of us is a former Pentagon insider during the years of the Barack Obama presidency and knows that even well…
From confrontation to collaboration: Working together on critical minerals supply chains
A recent article in the Australian Financial Review on the urgent “parachuting” of Chinese technicians to a troubled lithium processing plant in Western Australia has highlighted…
When war-planning and politics collide
Book review: War on the Ballot: How the Election Cycle Shapes Presidential Decision-Making in War, by Andrew Payne (Colombia, 2023)
Political scientist Andrew Payne…
Can South Korea become a global pivotal state?
“South Korea should no longer be confined to the Korean Peninsula but rise to the challenge of being what I have described as a ‘global pivotal state’, one that advances freedom,…
AUKUS is a Trump-style deal
Donald Trump’s recent outburst about lax European defence efforts once again made headlines. Trump went further than earlier suggestions he would pull the United States out of…
Japan and the United States should pool efforts to improve health in Pacific Island countries
Pacific Island countries see Japan differently than they do the United States and China. A 2023 Rand report captured this sentiment well, noting “Japan’s greatest advantage amid…
Open for business: North Korea welcomes back visitors
After three years of pandemic lockdowns, North Korea is reopening its doors to foreigners. The welcome mat was put out in March 2023, when the country welcomed new Chinese…
Is there really a nuclear weapon in space?
Alarm was raised in the media this week about a “national security threat” to the United States from Russia, ostensibly a nuclear space-based weapon. The news came after the…