China's international norms
22 June, 2011
China is a rising power on the world stage. Its approach to issues involving international norms is therefore an important indicator of its future role. In this Strategic Policy Forum a range of contributors discuss Beijing's thinking about international norms, and what that thinking means for China, the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
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Exiting Afghanistan: Challenges to transition
10 March, 2011
Transition underpins the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ‘exit strategy’ in Afghanistan. It is the process by which the international community will enable the Afghan Government to take full responsibility for its own security thereby allowing a drawdown of foreign troops. This online forum examines the policy outcomes for the Australian Government of committing to the new approach. These papers are the personal views of the authors.
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Australian and Asian perspectives on resources diplomacy
24 November, 2010
In an effort to broaden the debate in Australia on the strategic implications of resources diplomacy in Asia, ASPI hosted an Outreach seminar in Brisbane in June 2010. This seminar brought together a number of academics and policy officials. As a result of those discussions, ASPI commissioned several participants to write short analytical papers from different country perspectives. The process has yielded some rich insights into how regional countries view Australia’s natural resource endowments.
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The future of Australian naval shipbuilding
30 March, 2010
The 2009 Defence White Paper outlined a significant expansion of Australia’s naval force. As well as doubling (at least) the size of the submarine fleet, the paper describes a future RAN that will operate a larger number of larger vessels than is currently the case. The detailed acquisition plan for this ambitious program is still under development. But governments of both stripes have shown a tendency to favour Australian shipyards when acquiring warships. So it is a fair bet that a significant fraction of the future tonnage will be built and supported here. And through life support necessarily requires in-country capability.
What the future holds for the Australian naval shipbuilding industry is not yet clear. There are various strategies that could be adopted to ensure that the industrial capability and capacity required to support the planned naval expansion is in place when required. Essentially the question boils down to the extent to which the government sees fit, or feels compelled, to intervene in the market.
For this forum, we invited a selection of writers from the federal and state government sectors, industry and elsewhere to provide their thoughts.
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Regional reactions to the Australian Defence White Paper 2009
21 September, 2009
This forum, 'Regional reactions to the Defence White Paper', contains a range of regional strategic scholars giving their assessments of Australia's recent Defence White Paper.
Contributors from Indonesia, Japan, China, India, Singapore, US and New Zealand outline what they believe the White Paper shows about current Australian strategic policy. On the whole, the reaction is positive, although not uncritically so. The approach each contributor has taken is often illustrative of the broader tenor of the bilateral relationship that Australia enjoys wih each of those countries. And they confirm the old adage that a White Paper has many audiences—beyond Australia as well as within it.
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Countering Online Radicalisation in Australia
13 July, 2009
This ASPI Strategic Policy Forum examines approaches to countering online radicalisation in Australia. Forum contributors participated in an ASPI outreach dialogue on the topic of internet radicalisation that was held in Perth, Western Australia, in May 2009.
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Australia's strategic interests in Africa
29 May, 2009
This online forum examines Australia’s shifting foreign and security policy priorities in Africa. Dr Carl Ungerer begins the discussion and provides the concluding remarks.
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The Australia-China strategic relationship
05 February, 2009
This online forum explores what sort of strategic relationship Australia should aim to build with China. Rod Lyon begins the discussion and provides concluding remarks.
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The conflict in Georgia: the first proxy of a new Cold War?
04 November, 2008
The Five Day War in Georgia may be viewed as a recent historical event that signifies a new era in strategic relations between major international players. This online forum considers the strategic implications of the August 2008 conflict in the Caucasus. It has produced conflicting views from the participants. Dr Alexey Muraviev provides the opening contribution and concluding remarks.
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Terrorism, national security and the dilemmas of regional engagement
16 April, 2008
This online forum highlights one the key tensions in Australia’s foreign and security policy debate—the evolution of global terrorist threats and the renewed emphasis on regional diplomatic engagement. The forum features a group of young strategic policy analysts, who bring a range of new ideas and fresh thinking to the national security debate. Dr Carl Ungerer begins the discussion and provides the concluding remarks.
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The Red Star of the Pacific: the forgotten player is back
28 August, 2007
This online forum considers Russia’s current and future role and place in the system of international relations in Asia and the Pacific. Dr Alexey Muraviev begins the discussion and provides the concluding remarks.
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The use of force after Iraq
02 May, 2007
In this web-only feature, Rod Lyon begins the discussion on how we should think about the future use of force in the aftermath of the Iraq intervention and its consequences. The other authors respond with input and ideas. The range of their contributions underlines just how diverse the issues regarding the use of force have become. Rod Lyon provides concluding remarks. This forum is part of the 'After Iraq' project.
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Responding better to regional crises
20 February, 2007
In this web-only feature Anthony Bergin begins the discussion with the idea of establishing a regional college of defence, government and administration which would strengthen nation-states in our immediate region. The other authors respond and put forward further ideas about how better to respond to regional crises. Anthony Bergin provides concluding remarks.
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