FEATURED ARTICLES
Breaking the suspended animation of defence innovation
As policy advisors and decision makers consider the problem of defence innovation, the video of the SpaceX Starship launch of 20 April 2023 should be required viewing. When they watch it, they should note the audacity of the vision,...
Forget transparent seas. What’s the plan to deal with crowded oceans?
Eight Australian nuclear submarines operating sometime in the 2050s is a long way off. Even Australia operating its first Virginia Class submarine, all things going well, by 2033 is a decade and $60bn away. Well before then,...
A ready reserve of nation’s civilian fleet makes sense for the RAN
Recent revelations that China has launched multiple new civilian ferries that could be used as amphibious assault ships against Taiwan have caused consternation among some strategic analysts. Some analysts see mobilised civilian...
Do we have a viable military strategy?
With the Albanese government’s adoption of the Defence Strategic Review, Australia’s defence strategy has become more focused. Instead of maintaining a defence force that can do a bit of everything, the focus is now squarely on...
12 questions on the 2023-24 Defence budget
Australia needs to mobilise in order to address the strategic challenges it is facing. The Defence Strategic Review (DSR) proposes ways to do that. However, the 2023-24 Defence Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) does not yet...
G7 de-risks on China and supports Ukraine. Australia re-risks and shuffles feet.
Australia’s attendance at the G7 and Quad leaders meetings in Japan helps Anthony Albanese back home. It portrays him as a respected, influential international leader. But the price of sitting at these tables isn’t smiling and...
Vacuous Quad joint statement sets off warning bells
The best that can be said of the statements, declarations, compacts and media transcripts from Anthony Albanese’s meetings in Hiroshima is that they make a thin gruel. We now have a Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy...
Emergency training program would help plug ADF gap
The Defence Strategic Review recommended our fighting forces be released from most of their domestic disaster-response role to concentrate on deterring wars, and winning them if deterrence fails. The DSR found that the increasing use...
Modi goes to PNG – why it matters to the region and Australia
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Papua New Guinea early next week and then go on to Australia, despite the cancellation of the Quad Leaders’ summit. Fortunately, Prime Minister Modi’s visit to PNG wasn’t linked to US...
Biden skipping Sydney Quad meeting’s bad, but our underwhelming Strategic Review is worse
US President Joe Biden’s decision not to attend a summit of the Quad countries in Sydney is disappointing but not unexpected. Given the perilous negotiations in Washington to avert a default on government debt, it is more surprising...
Climate changes the role of Australian police in the Pacific
The Defence Strategic Review points out that if climate change accelerates over coming decades it has the potential to significantly increase risk in our region. As affirmed by the 2018 Boe Declaration, climate change “remains the...
SPONSORS
Contact Strategic Analysis Australia to discuss options for sponsoring this page and other aspects of our work.