Australia's Foreign Policy White Paper: Navigating Uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific

The prevalence of peril in the world of 2018 vindicates the sober, direct and hedging tenor of Australia’s recent foreign affairs White Paper. This major policy document, released in November 2017, takes both a more cautious and a more creative approach to protecting and advancing Australia’s...

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Addressing Australia's Vulnerability to Weaponised Narratives

Key points: Information overload has permanently changed the news environment for the public, challenging democracies as a result. The human need to find patterns of meaning in events, combined with increasing information availability, exposes Australians to the risk of accepting false or damaging...

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Defining Thresholds in Law - Sophisticated Decryption and Law Enforcement

Key points: Encryption technologies have fundamentally changed the way people transmit data, reducing the capacity of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access information. Relying on the private sector to provide agencies with plain text information is no longer productive, yet...

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Exploring Beijing’s Motivations and Challenges for its New Silk Road

This article argues that Beijing’s ambitious ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) is driven by the convergence of Innenpolitik and Aussenpolitik motivations including a desire: to counterbalance perceived American predominance; to ensure economic growth to underpin the CCP’s legitimacy; and to present...

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"Fear and Loathing: When Nuclear Proliferation Emboldens"

Does nuclear weapon development embolden national leaders to engage in more assertive foreign policies? Despite the importance of this question to international security studies, the nuclear emboldenment hypothesis has received little attention. This article develops a theoretical explanation of...

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Celebrating and Interrogating Women and National Security

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Between Giants: The Sino-Indian cold war in the Indian Ocean

Strategic competition between India and China in the Indian Ocean is growing and has the potential to profoundly impact the stability and security of the region. The Indian Ocean is becoming the scene of a sustained contest that in some ways resembles strategic competition during the Cold War....

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The United States and Southeast Asian Regionalism: Collective Security and Economic Development, 1945-75

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One belt, one road, many rules-based orders

Key points: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is both a blueprint for a China-centric order in the Indo-Pacific and a means to address internal economic and political challenges. China is not yet capable of leading that order, but its desire to do so is increasing. Prospects for the long-term...

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Marawi and after: how Australia can help

Key points: The seizure of Marawi city by Daesh-linked militants is a game-changer for Southeast Asia, and presents a threat to all countries of the region. Limiting the movement of money, technology, recruits and planning support to extremist groups in the southern Philippines will be crucial to...

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