February
Trump’s Gaza grab shows America is no better than China
Australia’s former top diplomat says Donald Trump may achieve what 75 years of post-war anti-Americanism could not: concede the case for moral equivalence.
November 2024
Trump is all power with no grand strategy
The US president-elect’s delight in being unpredictable may end up dissipating US power rather than strengthening it. Australians may come to regret that.
October 2024
The unresolved tension at the core of Australia’s strategic policy
Australia wants to constrain China, but without tying itself to America’s own ambitions and all that might mean.
June 2023
Don’t throw Indo-Pacific economic co-operation out with the bathwater
In a region divided geopolitically, there is an increased risk that nations will erect new barriers to trade and investment in the mistaken belief this will protect sovereignty and self-reliance.
May 2023
How we can live with a weaker America
We must not exchange a US hegemony for a dominant China. A new regional balance of power is the answer.
March 2023
The balance sheet of the nuclear subs deal
The real test of sovereignty is whether you can defend yourself and credibly deter an attack on your territory. Is that what the nuclear submarines deliver?
Is Australia in the dark about its most powerful neighbours?
New research has revealed that Australia is losing expertise and knowledge on Asia. Here’s what we can do to fix that.
September 2021
AUKUS is a good plan B for China. But let’s not bring on Cold War 2.0
Australia still needs to invest in a credible self-defence policy, because in foreign and strategic policy there are no “forever” friends or allies.
June 2021
China seeks client states not ideological conquests
Rather than follow in the slipstream of the G7 or US, Australia needs its own distinctive strategy to push back against Beijing’s ambition to rebuild the Middle Kingdom.
November 2020
The Quad yet to face consequences of China’s economic growth
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is not an anti-China alliance in the making, but ministerial talks held last month in Japan show Australia still confronts policy issues.