Australia’s arms export drive still stuck in first gear

Recent steps, including the appointment of a part-time ambassador for defence exports and more sales training for Australia’s overworked defence attaches, might not be enough to bring a step change in defence export success.

Australia faces an unprecedented set of security challenges

The international security environment is on the cusp of significant change and the national defence debate must be broadened thematically yet narrowed geographically if the ADF is to protect Australian people.

Australian ingenuity is still flying high

Lockheed Martin’s chief executive in Australia, Vince Di Pietro, praises Australia’s record of innovation in the past and looks forward to a bright future of technological co-operation with the USA.

The public square: the next theatre of conflict in the digital age

How Australia acts to protect its public square from foreign interference in the digital age will be a defining issue for our country and for democracies all over the world.

Fostering a culture of disaster preparedness

The devastating floods we’ve recently seen in Japan are an indicator of the kinds of challenges we’re facing as a result of a changing climate. How should Australia prepare for similar disasters in the near future?

I can see clearly now! Tech innovation in law enforcement

The rapid acceptance of new technology into our lives creates new risks as well as opportunities and requires a more innovative approach from enforcement and regulatory agencies.

Riders on the storm: what the Tour de France tells us about global security

The world’s greatest sporting event, the Tour de France, is coming to its climax for another year. As well as a great sporting drama in itself, it offers a handy metaphor for the current state of play in global politics.

The changing rules-based international order: Now what?

Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop spoke recently at Chatham House about the challenges Australia faces in defending the rules-based liberal international order in a period of global instability. The Foreign Policy White Paper shows how Australia might respond.

Australia’s response to changing global orders

Australia has responded to three separate changes in the international order over the past century. The two previous international systems terminated in war. Can a new order be marshalled without conflict?

Tech leaders sign global pledge against autonomous weapons

A who’s who of CEOs, engineers and scientists from the technology industry have signed a global pledge – co-organised by UNSW’s Toby Walsh – to oppose lethal autonomous weapons.

The future of the US–Australia alliance

The rules based order supported by democratic alliances has done much to ensure global peace and development, but it must renew itself in the face of external threats and internal doubts to meet the challenges it faces today.

Alliances in the time of hybrid warfare

The US–Australia partnership must develop in this time of increasing super-power competition to take account of the changing forms and complexities of tactics and warfare.