by Lesley Seebeck | May 3, 2023 | Strategy & Capability
In an age of fast evolving, disruptive digital tools, including emerging forms of AI, how can we reimagine the Australian Defence organisation, including the military, and its functions? What are the concepts of work, financial frameworks, governance, resourcing...
by Michael Shoebridge | Apr 30, 2023 | Strategy & Capability
One proven way for organisations to deal with uncomfortable recommendations from external reviews is to accept what they recommend and then implement them in ways that are business as usual, but with new paint. The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA)...
by Michael Shoebridge | Apr 29, 2023 | Reading
Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance, published in 1978, is a beautifully written work that tells the story of America at war through the experiences of a family in the midst of it. It’s fiction but wrapped in a strong foundation of history and research. As Wouk says “I...
by Lesley Seebeck | Apr 26, 2023 | Strategy & Capability
Rapidly shifting contexts drive tough decisions. For Australia, that context is a more entitled China, a disrupted, multipolar environment driven by technological competition, and with the conflict in Europe, a possible return to an age of blood and iron—and...
by Michael Shoebridge | Apr 24, 2023 | China, Defence Budget, Strategy & Capability, Uncategorized
While there’s only a single paragraph devoted to it down on page 23, it’s clear that the Defence Strategic Review and the billions of dollars the government will spend on Defence over the next ten years is all about grappling with Chinese power in the Indo Pacific....
by Marcus Hellyer | Apr 22, 2023 | AUKUS, Defence Budget, Strategy & Capability
In this Australian Naval Institute Saltwater Strategists podcast, Dr Marcus Hellyer, Head of Research at Strategic Analysis Australia, examines many of the key issues around maritime capability and the Defence Strategic Review. In a wide-ranging discussion Marcus...
by Marcus Hellyer | Apr 22, 2023 | AUKUS, Defence Budget, Strategy & Capability
The government has said that the cost of buying and operating our eight nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) will be between $268 billion and $368 billion ‘over the life of the program’. But what does that staggeringly large number mean? The government has suggested we...
by Michael Shoebridge | Apr 20, 2023 | Reading
Liu Cixin’s ‘The Three Body Problem’ is a wonderful mix of science fiction, political history mixed together into a detective drama. It’s the first in a three volume set. Set in China from the Cultural Revolution to the near future, it’s full of clashing perspectives,...
by Lesley Seebeck | Apr 11, 2023 | AUKUS
Amidst recent speculation over the Defence Strategic Review and budget funding, it’s far from clear the promises of AUKUS are to be met. While pillar one of AUKUS, the nuclear-powered submarines, has garnered most attention, it is AUKUS pillar two that’s more...
by Peter Jennings | Apr 11, 2023 | Reading
“The night was still wilder than the last. In particular, one concentration of fire at quarter past two outdid anything there had been up to that point. A hail of heavy shells struck all round my dugout. We stood fully armed on the shelter steps, while the light of...
