- Julia Terreu questions whether the Australian military has the autonomy to engage with strategic and intellectual challenges.
- Over at the Monkey Cage, Erik Gartzke and Yonatan Lupu argue that World War I demonstrates the risks when uneven levels of economic independence combine with widespread alliance ties.
- There's a lot of news out of the US this week regarding progress on allegedly 'game-changing' technologies. Researchers are making noise about advances in converting seawater into fuel, flexible invisibility cloaking, and the 2016 deployment of an experimental Mach 7 rail gun.
- Technological optimism is part of the Pentagon's DNA. But as David Axe notes, while the US Navy is likely to be bigger and more capable in 2020, this push to grasp bleeding-edge capabilities is increasing budgetary risk.
- Over the last five months the Italian Navy has engaged in a very unusual 20-country overseas tour, combining joint training exercises with a rolling defence trade show. The result may prove exemplary of middle power public-private partnerships.
- Japan's increasingly challenging strategic environment is motivating a search for defence efficiencies, leading Tokyo to ease longstanding defence export restrictions.
- Following the seizure of the Crimea, there's enthusiasm amongst some commentators for another round of NATO expansion. David Wise offers some cautious words in response.
- On East Asia Forum, Richard Bitzinger reiterates the risks resulting from ambiguity in Washington and Beijing over their strategic intentions in maritime Asia.
- Finally, here's a collection of fascinating 1950s-60s illustrations commissioned by General Dynamics in an attempt to ameliorate American perceptions of the atomic age.