People have the power

Despite the importance of new technology, people remain at the heart of Australia’s armed forces.

Protecting Australia

Australia’s most senior military officer has warned that the nation faces complex and interwoven threats including high-end military capabilities, economic coercion, climate change and AI-driven dangers to democracy in a post-truth world.

Weapons proliferation in the age of AI

Hostile states, terrorist groups and aggrieved individuals now have access to technologies and informational aids that used to be the stuff of science fiction, and policy makers must confront advanced weapons proliferation in the new age of AI.

Cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea

The damaging of two subsea telecommunications cables and a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea by a Chinese container vessel underlines the reliance of the western world on these cables and the need to protect them from hostile authoritarian regimes.

Reviving the Royal Australian Fleet Auxiliary

In an era of reduced strategic warning time, bold decisions are necessary and risk must be accepted to gain strategic and operational advantage. Re-establishing the Royal Australian Fleet Auxiliary is an option worth considering.

Operation Malabar

The recent iteration of the Malabar military exercises is an illustration of the growing military interoperability, mutual trust, and coordinated response of the Quad countries. More are needed to maintain stability and security in the Indo-Pacific, threatened increasingly by China’s military assertiveness.

Rebooting Australia’s defence industry

Australia needs a powerful department that spans industry, trade and investment, mandated with extensive powers and equipped with resources to shape the economy to strategic needs.

Strike back

Defence Minister Richard Marles called for the Australian Defence Force to be capable of ‘impactful projection’ and a diversity of strike missiles are being acquired to achieve it.

Supporting NATO and Ukraine

It is in Australia’s national interest to join NATO counterparts in proclaiming support for Ukraine and the inseparability of the transatlantic and Indo-Pacific partnerships in protecting freedom and democracy.

Diplomacy and defence must work together

Strong diplomacy is crucial to avoid conflict, and the Australian Defence Force must operate within an envelope created and expanded by the nation’s diplomatic efforts, says ADF chief Angus Campbell.

Once a terrorist…

Countering terrorism while preserving essential freedoms isn’t an easy task, but society has a right to expect the state to protect the public against convicted terrorists.

Improving US-Australian defence cooperation

The US–Australia defence relationship, and the alliance more broadly, has never been closer, as highlighted by the AUKUS partnership, but changing strategic circumstances make it imperative that the two partners continue to improve their mutual understanding of each other, build greater resilience and leverage each other’s strengths.