Programs & Projects

The International Security Program

The International Security Program

The International Security Program looks at strategic dynamics and security risks globally, with an emphasis on Australia's region of Indo-Pacific Asia. Its research spans strategic competition and the risks of conflict in Asia, security implications of the rise of China and India, maritime security, nuclear arms control, Australian defence policy and the changing character of conflict. The Program draws on a network of experts in Australia, Asia and globally, and is supported by diverse funding sources including grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. It convenes international policy dialogues such as the 2017 Australia-ROK Emerging Leaders International Security Forum and has a record of producing leading-edge, influential reports.

Experts
Latest publications
News and media
Documentary trailer: Stolen Seas
From the official website: The filmmakers have spent the past three years traveling to some of the world's most violent locales in order to make this documentary on Somali…
China-DPRK: Different this time?
The regime in Pyongyang has tested a third nuclear device and the depressing diplomatic ritual has begun again. The liturgy is familiar: the threat, the ineffective warnings, the…
'Mutual denial' may not change very much
Stephan Fruehling is a Senior Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies Program, ANU. Sam Roggeveen's post on whether 'mutual denial' can work raises an important point about…
US-China: Can mutual denial work?
Thanks to all the blogs and news sites that picked up on what I described as the 'bracing' commentary by a senior US naval intelligence officer about China's naval capabilities…
China at sea: Wake up, Australia!
For Australia, the principal threat posed by the growth of China's military power is not yet to its direct strategic interests but rather to the US-led order from which much of…
What to make of India's nuclear forces
Commentary
What to make of India's nuclear forces
In this article on The Diplomat's Flashpoints blog, Rory Medcalf looks at the security implications of India's recent submarine-launched ballistic missile test for Indo…
China's navy: Urgent need for new mindset
Rear Admiral (Ret'd) James Goldrick AO CSC is a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute. Despite the harsh language about China's maritime strategy and ambitions identified in Sam…
Blunt words on China from US Navy
  In the context of yesterday's article in The Australian that China was being invited to America's biggest annual Pacific naval exercise, RIMPAC (which wasn't really…
Shinzo Abe's strategic diamond
Commentary
Shinzo Abe's strategic diamond
In this article on The Diplomat’s Flashpoints blog, Rory Medcalf looks at the possibility of Shinzo Abe reviving the quadrilateral dialogue in his second term as Prime…
A term whose time has come: the Indo-Pacific
Commentary
A term whose time has come: the Indo-Pacific
In this article on The Diplomat’s Flashpoints blog, Rory Medcalf advocates for the usage of the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ to describe the emerging Asian strategic…