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.

Defence must adapt fast, or fail

The overwhelming speed of technological development means armed forces must change their approach to everything from who they recruit and train to how targets are attacked and how a nation defends itself.

An army is made of its people

The 100th anniversary of the Battle of Hamel has been remembered as the first time American troops fought under an Australian general and a textbook study of how to plan an attack. However the individual stories from the battle underline the fact that an army is only as good as its people.

Eyes ‘wired’ open: preparing for chemical and biological threats

Is Australia preparing for the threat of chemical weapons, as used by Vladimir Putin’s Russia against dissidents in Britain, the Syrian regime against civilians and threatened by ISIS and other terrorist groups?

Assessing the submarine threat to Australia

Is the Commonwealth’s purchase of 9 anti-submarine frigates to protect Australian waters from foreign submarines or to offer support to our allies against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea?

The hard science behind surviving a zombie attack

What would you do in a zombie apocalypse? Build a defensive ring or run as fast as you can? Disaster modelling could help you survive a killer zombie outbreak in Australia and also helps planning for more realistic scenarios.

Big boys’ rules

Autonomy from the restraint of regimentation in part explains the propensity for scandal to routinely afflict SASR. That it mostly goes unpublished and unpunished is down to much the same reason.

The special forces controversy raises questions about strategy

Cycling some of our most talented and motivated people through an endless series of deployments, with no clear goal beyond continuing to do them, cannot be sustained.

Don’t rush to judge our special forces

Allegations of serious misconduct against Australia’s special forces should be handled with greater consideration for the reputation of soldiers who have done no wrong.

Australia needs better disaster management and risk reduction education

While there have been some notable moves to improve management of national resilience issues, non-natural hazards pose a range of challenges that need to be factored into current thinking and practice.