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  • 17 Jul 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    A second suitable piece of real estate

    John Blaxland
    The geostrategic significance of revamped submarine facilities off the WA coast echoes its utility from 80 years back.
  • 12 Jul 2024
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Testing the climate for AUKUS

    Albert Palazzo
    The deterrence effects of nuclear-powered submarines are easily overstated, and the boats won’t fulfil Australia’s most pressing security needs in a changing environment.
  • 26 Jun 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    The case for AUKUS you should read – even if not yet the explanation we need

    Sam Roggeveen
    A Labor backbencher sets out the challenges Australia faces from China and a rationale for nuclear-powered submarines.
  • 25 Jun 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Ten reasons why Trump will support AUKUS

    Peter Dean
    AUKUS will survive regardless of who wins the presidential election in November.
  • 3 Jun 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    Clarity needed on a “capability gap”

    Peter Leavy
    Counting warships is only one measure of deterrence. An integrated force will be more lethal and that carries a cost.
  • 13 May 2024
    • China
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United Nations

    The cause for China’s coercion in the skies may lay under the water

    Justin Burke
    Better to understand now why Australia might be targeted rather than in the aftermath of a fatal incident.
  • 4 Mar 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    After ambition, implementation: How Australia builds its new navy

    Richard Dunley
    The ambition of the RAN’s plans will leave many sceptical. The government must take charge.
  • 1 Mar 2024
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    Australia's new navy: The Japanese option

    Peter Dean
    Japan and Australia have similar security strategies, so why not the same ships?
  • 27 Feb 2024
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United Kingdom
    • United States

    AUKUS is a Trump-style deal

    Patrick Triglavcanin
    He rebels against the language of a “rules-based order” but he is happy to talk business.
  • 16 Feb 2024
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    The right lessons for Australia’s future warships

    Sam Roggeveen
    The war in Ukraine appears to be a revolution in naval warfare. Australia’s upcoming Surface Fleet Review must reflect on the consequences.
  • 29 Jan 2024
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Maritime Security
    • Review

    Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines

    Stephen Grenville
    Construction lessons – from the Empire State to the Sydney Opera House – can inform Australia’s most pressing problems.
  • 4 Dec 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • China's Military
    • South China Sea
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • International law

    How to stop any repeat of the Australia-China sonar incident

    Collin Koh
    A regional deal to close a loophole relating to the use of sonar in international law could be a good place to start.
  • 18 Nov 2023
    • China
    • South China Sea
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    China’s sonar pulse poses another test of Australia’s will

    Sam Roggeveen
    Even with international law on its side, Australia is still grappling with the conundrum of whether might makes right.
  • 14 Sep 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy

    ASEAN maritime security and what next week’s navy exercises mean

    Tom Barber
    Australia’s experience and reputation can support Southeast Asia’s aim of multipolarity. And it doesn’t need to be flashy.
  • 25 Aug 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • United Kingdom
    • United States

    The social licence for AUKUS has not yet been earned

    Peter K. Lee , Alice Nason , Sophie Mayo
    Convincing Australians that nuclear-powered subs are needed, and worth the $368 billion price tag, is a hard sell.
  • 21 Jun 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Public Opinion

    The “somewhat” conundrum: Lack of communication bedevils AUKUS support

    David Vallance
    The latest Lowy Institute Poll reveals Australians are no more convinced about the merits of the subs deal than last year.
  • 17 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament

    AUKUS: What to do with nuclear waste?

    Maria Rost Rublee
    Only by investing in community consent – “social licence” – can the government be certain about long-term storage plans.
  • 27 Mar 2023
    • Philippines
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    Philippines: The best friend for AUKUS in Southeast Asia

    Richard Javad Heydarian
    Manila has stood apart on Australia’s nuclear-powered subs deal as a sympathetic democracy seeking to balance China.
  • 22 Mar 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    AUKUS commits Australia to fight China if America does, simple

    Hugh White
    Whatever the flag, Washington would not sell nuclear-powered boats unless it could count on them in war over Taiwan.
  • 21 Mar 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australian Navy

    James Goldrick, navies, oceans, trade, law, danger and history

    Justin Burke
    A man of both humility and tremendous intellect was an immeasurable asset to Australia’s naval know-how.
  • 20 Mar 2023
    • China
    • China's Military
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • China-Australia Relations
    • Defence & Security

    Australia, China, AUKUS and the squandered advantage

    Sam Roggeveen
    Canberra appears to have overlooked the tyranny of distance as its chief asset in regional military deterrence.
  • 17 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    AUKUS: The pillars of Hercules

    Peter Tesch
    Wishful thinking will not make the world more benign. Ambition carries a cost, but Australia has a responsibility, too.
  • 17 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Australia's Economy
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security

    The limits on Australia’s submarine industry

    John Edwards
    Long before the last boat is delivered, the business will be winding down.
  • 10 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United Kingdom
    • United States

    AUKUS: Asking a veteran submariner what to think

    Justin Burke
    What are the big issues still lurking beneath the surface of the AUKUS debate?
  • 2 Mar 2023
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australia-United States Relations
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United Kingdom
    • United States

    AUKUS and intellectual property

    Naoise McDonagh , Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann
    In an era of economic entanglement, IP theft has the potential to threaten democracy. Governments need to be vigilant.
  • 24 Feb 2023
    • Australia
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australia-United States Relations
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia–New Zealand
    • China-Australia Relations
    • New Zealand

    The Australia-New Zealand alliance in a war with China

    Robert Ayson
    The potential for conflict in the region should have Canberra and Wellington thinking about shared strategic risks.
  • 1 Feb 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • France

    Marles torpedoes French subs, but is yet to explain nuclear advantage

    Sam Roggeveen
    For such a high-stakes and expensive enterprise the public deserves to know not just what boats we’re getting, but why.
  • 5 Dec 2022
    • China
    • China-India Relations
    • India
    • India's Navy
    • Indonesia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Navy

    Islands as stepping stones for India-Australia collaboration

    Radhey Tambi
    The Indian Ocean region is too large for any one country to manage but cooperation on island territories would help.
  • 5 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • China's Military
    • India's Navy
    • Australian Navy

    Of maritime security and a rules-based order

    Abhijit Singh
    All good in theory, but the operational logistics of multinational cooperation at sea will take more than narratives.
  • 29 Dec 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom

    An AUKUS surprise – Best of The Interpreter 2021

    The Interpreter
    An extraordinary decision put Australia at the centre of regional defence debates.
  • 29 Sep 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Australian Navy

    SSN vs SSK

    Hugh White
    Time on station or a numbers game? The answer depends on the mission for Australia’s submarine fleet.
  • 28 Sep 2021
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia's Defence Challenges

    AUKUS and the nuclear non-proliferation regime

    Cathy Moloney
    Australia’s new trilateral agreement and its hard-won nuclear grand bargain. 
  • 21 Sep 2021
    • US Navy
    • Maritime Security
    • China-Australia Relations
    • Asia Pacific Security
    • Australian Navy
    • Asean
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia-United States Relations
    • China
    • United Kingdom
    • France

    AUKUS and the CPTPP: It’s all about China

    Ian Hill
    Security deterrence is only one factor in the new and fast-moving geostrategic environment of the Indo-Pacific.
  • 20 Sep 2021
    • US Navy
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • United Kingdom

    When you’re in a hole, stop digging: Australia and the nuke sub deal

    Albert Palazzo
    By the time Canberra’s subs roll off the dock, their capabilities will be obsolete, and there are bigger threats, too.
  • 20 Sep 2021
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy

    Australia’s wartime seaborne trade: insights from before

    Peter Layton
    The cargo, not the ships, should guide Australia’s responses to potential threats against seaborne trade and supply.
  • 16 Sep 2021
    • Asia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom

    How nuclear subs could transform Australia, its alliance and Asia

    Sam Roggeveen
    First thoughts on the consequences of a truly momentous decision.
  • 3 Sep 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Trade
    • Australian Navy

    Australia’s essential need: not seaborne trade but seaborne supply

    James Goldrick
    “Sea control” is not about dominating waters but only to the extent necessary to ensure the movement needed.
  • 27 Aug 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Maritime Security
    • China's Military
    • Australian Navy

    Australia’s seaborne trade: Essential but undefendable

    Hugh White
    Recognising the limits to Australia’s military potential.
  • 10 Mar 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • India's Navy
    • Australian Navy
    • Australia
    • India

    Sea denial is not enough: An Australian and Indian perspective

    James Goldrick , Sudarshan Y. Shrikhande
    Debates over naval policy need to be mounted with a full understanding of just what a nation needs to do at sea.
  • 13 Aug 2018
    • Australian Navy

    Bring Australia’s Navy home from the Middle East

    David Brewster
    The RAN has bigger jobs to do than chasing Tanzanian drug smugglers.
  • 20 Oct 2017
    • Australian Navy

    Australia’s navy needs to mind the missile gap

    Euan Graham
    The RAN would have to mobilise practically the entire fleet to match the missile inventory of one Chinese cruiser.

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