“Australia can help put nuclear restraint back on the regional agenda in a way that is neither sanctimonious nor procedural,” writes Brendan Taylor in The Interpreter.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/southeast-asia-s-nuclear-weapons-free-zone-needs-reinforcement
Dr @comfortero.crisisgroup.org, President & CEO @crisisgroup.org, will deliver our first Public Lecture of 2026, addressing the future of multilateral peace and security.
1-2PM AEDT, Tue 24 Feb @ ANU. In-person only.
Join us ➡️
quicklink.anu.edu.au/y19j
@anu-asiapacific.bsky.social
Congrats, Ian! Great appointment!🍾🥂
Looking forward to launching the new issue of @AusForeign “The Bomb: Will Asia Go Nuclear?” at @ANUBellSchool @ourANU on Monday 20 October. Details below👇 events.humanitix.com/the-bomb-wil...
ABSTRACT This article revisits the widely held assumption that small and middle powers lose substantial agency during periods of strategic competition and hegemonic (re)ordering. Focusing on Australia’s foreign policy over the past decade and a half, it also challenges the prevailing narrative that Canberra has resigned itself to the role of a ‘Dependent Ally’ of the United States amidst intensifying Sino-American rivalry. Instead, the article finds evidence of significant agency, as Australia has resisted and, in some cases, shaped signature coalition-building initiatives advanced by both powers, including the Obama administration’s pivot/rebalance to Asia, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the US-led Quad 2.0 and AUKUS. Drawing on Australia’s three dominant foreign policy traditions − the ‘Dependent Ally,’ ‘Middle Power,’ and ‘Pragmatic’ schools of thought − the article argues that Australia has consistently incorporated all three traditions rather than simply relying upon the supposedly dominant ‘Dependent Ally’ approach. Through this lens, Australia emerges not as a passive actor at the mercy of external powers but as a strategically-significant player capable of influencing the evolving regional order. Such findings challenge prevailing assumptions about Australian foreign policy and broader middle power behaviour. Keywords: Australia-China relations; ANZUS; Australian foreign policy; geopolitics; middle power
🚨New online! @brendanktaylor.bsky.social queries the narrative that Australia has resigned itself to being a dependent ally of the U.S in "Australian agency and the China-US contest for supremacy". ⬇️ #openaccess #academicpublishing #internationalrelations #Australia
tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
What is happening with the cross-strait status quo? Join APLN's webinar this week to find out!
On 19 February I will speaking at ANU about using #AI to supercharge learning and adaptation for military & national security institutions - and to interfere with the learning & adaptation of our adversaries. Get your tickets at the link:
events.humanitix.com/superchargin...
Roll up, roll up. A Lowy panel on Monday 10 February at State Library Victoria on the international agenda in 2025, with Jennifer Hewett, Lydia Khalil, Sam Roggeveen and me. Trump, Australia's election, Ukraine, Middle East, China - lots to talk about.
portal.lowyinstitute.org/eventdetails...
Hear Major General Mick Ryan @lowyinstitute.bsky.social discuss how #AI offers #military organisations a chance to interfere with enemy adaptation cycles - its called 'Counter Adaptation'.
Chair: Toni Erskine
📅 Wed 19 Feb, 6.30-7.30pm AEDT
📍 ANU Hedley Bull Bldng
👉https://quicklink.anu.edu.au/nx6h
🚨 job opening
Working on defence industry and economy? Interested to work on the Shangri-La Dialogue, the premier defence summit in the region?
Come join our IISS Asia team in Singapore! 👇🏻
‼️ Deadline: 14 Feb 25
What a treat to start the new year as guest to my current favorite podcast, School of War! Thanks Aaron MacLean for inviting me to talk about the delineations of China's strategic space.
podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/s...
🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨
Applications for Director of ASPI's Defence Strategy team close on Friday!
We are looking for a senior leader who has strong knowledge of the issues covered by the team, as well as superior management skills and a proven ability to build relationships.
Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/3Zx19Ee
A special offer for those who have yet to become full subscribers to Comment is Freed. 25% off your first year’s subscription. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/s...
So great to work with @rollandnadege.bsky.social and the team at CIGeography and NBR on this video! Thank you for the wonderful experience 😊
Grateful to recently join @andrewtillett, @latrobeasia @becstrating.bsky.social strating & RADM (Retd) Lee Goddard for the online launch of my publication 'Time for a Coastguard'
If you missed it, you can access below or listen whrver you get your pods
youtu.be/5DjJteBcoOQ?...
Want to know what the Congress has planned for Asia in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act?
Noah Burke and I read all the Asia provisions so you don't have to. Here are 5 things to watch (plus a full list of all Asia-related sections).
www.aei.org/foreign-and-...
🎙️ Latest ep of #maritimematters is out. In this final ep for 2024 @redunley.bsky.social & I discuss
⚫ Scarborough Shoal incident
⚫ 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🇵🇭 Joint Patrols
⚫ The RAN's Tomahawk Milestone & more
You can watch on YouTube (youtu.be/R2WIhKEpRNw?...), or listen wherever you get your pods
📣 JOB ALERT 📣
We have several potential roles available in our Defence Strategy Program across multiple levels including researcher, analyst and senior analyst!
Are you interested in contributing to the work of 🇦🇺's leading think tank on defence and strategic policy issues?
ℹ️ ➡️ bit.ly/4iuGJmD
We've just celebrated 10 years of La Trobe Asia. Can't believe it's a decade since we kicked off. It's one of the best things I've been involved with, proud of what we've done and even more pleased at helping La Trobe scholars find their voice in Asia. Congrats @becstrating.bsky.social and the team!
🎙️ This week's episode of #LatikaTakes is the all-star panel I moderated at the Australian Institute of International Affairs annual conference in Canberra on US Power in the era of Trump 2.0.
🎧 https://latika.me/LatikaTakesAIIA
🍎: https://buff.ly/4icZ47E
YouTube: https://buff.ly/49hMeRz
🚨 fellowship opening🚨
Come join us next year at the Shangri-La Dialogue and work on a Southeast Asian security research project for three months at the IISS-Asia office👇🏻
*deadline 13 Dec 2024
www.iiss.org/careers/jobs...
'The Australian' newspaper has announced Bell School's A/Prof Marcus Mietzner as Australia's top researcher in Asian studies and history.
A huge congratulations to Marcus, from the Department of Political and Social Change and the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs! Wonderful achievement!
Pleased to host Simon Birmingham, the shadow minister for foreign affairs of Australia 🇦🇺 at our National Conference, where he discussed among other things, Australia’s approach to the Trump administration. youtu.be/lAS_Mhr62vI?...
"Is China-Taiwan Rapprochement Possible? Experimental Evidence From Taiwan"
A worthwhile intellectual exercise, but I will believe in rapprochement when a 2-28 memorial is consecrated in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
🚨The AJIA team will take a break over the holidays between 16 December 2024 and 10 January 2025, returning to work on the journal after the break.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/caji20/c...
