Intelligence and security
Podcasts
The Director’s Chair: Penny Wong on politics, China, and the job of Foreign Minister
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Senator Penny Wong, the Shadow Foreign Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
Bringing the grey zone into focus
Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update was, by the standards of such publications, a hard-hitting document. It had a particularly strong focus on grey zone activities, seen as…
Commentary
Don’t panic — Xi doesn’t hold all the aces in the great game of trade
Originally published in The Sunday Times.
Policy Briefs
Taiwan Flashpoint: What Australia Can Do to Stop the Coming Taiwan Crisis
Australian diplomacy could ease rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, if Australian policymakers rediscovered an appetite for involvement in the flashpoint.
Suspicion creeps into the Five Eyes
The world’s oldest intelligence partnership turned 73 this year. Traditionally, trust amongst spies is a rare commodity, but the UKUSA Agreement of 1946 (commonly known as the …
Time for Five Eyes to coordinate on Chinese tech investment
The recent exposure of Chinese influence-peddling inside the Australian political system is just one example of China’s growing influence and willingness to act in Western states…
Separating out important intelligence reforms from Home Affairs
The long-awaited release of the unclassified version of the 2017 Intelligence Review is now at hand. Released by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the same time as he…
Digital diplomacy links (defence special): White Paper, Army blogging, honeytraps and more
The launch of the Defence White Paper was a hot mess of hashtags: Prime Minister Turnbull (#DWP2016), Defence Minister Payne (#2016DWP), the Department of Defence (…
Innocent passage: Did the US just fumble its South China Sea strategy?
The difference between freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) and warships transiting under 'innocent passage' sounds arcane and legalistic. But this wonkish distinction…
As RAN prepares to exercise with China's navy, Australia risks a PR disaster
Australia and its Navy are in an awkward spot, caught between China and the US in the full glare of a global media spotlight shone on the South China Sea.
Two Royal Australian…