Publications
Australia as a Space Power: Combining Civil, Defence and Diplomatic Efforts
Author(s): Cassandra SteerDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: Policy
Space is a critical strategic domain for Australia’s civilian and military interests but is increasingly congested, contested and competitive. Major powers are engaged in a destabilising space arms race – China, Russia and the United States have rejected the strategic restraint that kept space a...
Senate inquiry into foreign policy research funding: submission from Head of NSC
Author(s): Professor Rory MedcalfDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: Policy
In this submission to an Australian Senate inquiry, the Head of the National Security College, Professor Rory Medcalf, argues for foreign and security policy research to be a national priority, linked to clear requirements for national-interest relevance and collaboration between institutions. He...
Clever Country in a Changed World: Re-Thinking Australian Science Policy
Author(s): Paul HarrisDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: Policy
The global science and technology system has undergone massive change since 2000 and is now a key site of geoeconomic competition between states. For the first time in Australia’s history, its most significant partner for science collaboration will be a country other than its principal ally, the...
Agalega: A glimpse of India’s remote island military base
Author(s): Samuel BashfieldDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
Satellite imagery reveals the transformation of an Indian Ocean island into a strategic outpost. Many questions remain. The small, remote Mauritian island of North Agalega, located in the south-western Indian Ocean, 1,122 kilometres north of Mauritius, is currently a hive of construction activity...
The Mozambique Channel is the next security hotspot
Author(s): Dr David BrewsterDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
An Islamist insurgency is spilling danger into a major shipping lane, and countries must decide who they want to fix it. The waters off Mozambique are becoming a major new security hotspot in the Indian Ocean. An Islamist insurrection in northern Mozambique that the government seems powerless to...
Russia wants to be a power to be reckoned with in the Indian Ocean
Author(s): Dr Alexey MuravievDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
No public strategy is defined, but a list of Moscow’s military and paramilitary activity in the region is revealing. February this year was marked by a heightened Russian naval activity in the Indian Ocean. Russian naval task groups drawn from the Baltic and Black Sea fleets took part in two...
Mauritius sets sail to Chagos
Author(s): Samuel BashfieldDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
The UK faces a lose-lose situation as demonstrators put disputed Indian Ocean archipelago in the spotlight. On Tuesday, Mauritius made good on a long-standing threat to Britain and sent a boatload of officials to visit the Chagos Archipelago without permission. This action has placed Britain,...
India should prioritise a denial strategy in the Indian Ocean
Author(s): Arzan TaraporeDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
The stand-off with China in the Himalayas has raised a broader debate about India’s strategic outlook. To break the border stand-off between India and China in the Himalayas, some Indian analysts have advocated going on the offensive against China in the Indian Ocean. But that would be vague,...
Chagos: A boundary dispute tips over a sovereignty ruling
Author(s): Natalie KleinDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: OP Eds
A case between Mauritius and Maldives stands on the ICJ opinion on the former’s claim to the Chagos Archipelago. The decision last month of a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea on a maritime boundary dispute between Mauritius and the Maldives reflects two...
Embracing Difference: Governance of Critical Technologies in the Indo-Pacific
Author(s): Jolyon Ford, Damian CliffordDate of publication: 2021
Publication type: Policy
This paper considers what an approach to human rights and the ethical governance of critical technologies could entail for Quad members. Its focus is data-driven technologies, like artificial intelligence. The key insight of the paper is that policymaking and diplomacy on critical technologies...
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