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Australian Defence Policy in Flux: The Perspective of Brendan Sargeant

04/18/2019By Robbin Laird The strategic shift from the land wars in the Middle East to the challenges of facing the 21st century authoritarian powers has recast the defense challenges facing the liberal democracies. Direct defense has returned as the core challenge facing the European states, even while the EU is in crises and the question of how to defend Europe… Read more »

French Naval Group and the Australians: Working the Cultural Challenges

04/17/2019By Pierre Tran Paris Naval Group (NG) is implementing a change in employee communications and behavior, in a bid to smooth out cultural differences between French and Australian staff working on a US $34 billion (A $50 billion) program to build submarines for the Australian Navy, senior executives said. That drive to improve “intercultural” relations stems from Australians’ difficulties in… Read more »

The Chinese Military and Exploitation of Western Technology Firms

04/17/2019By Alex Joske For more than a year, debate has raged over allegations that the Chinese military is taking advantage of Google’s research and expansion into China. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a senate committee in March that Google’s work in China indirectly benefits the Chinese military, an accusation echoed by President Donald Trump. Google’s response was… Read more »

Enhancing Australian Options in a Crisis: Shaping a More Sustainable Force

04/13/2019By Robbin Laird The latest Williams Seminar held in Canberra on April 11, 2019 focused on the strategic shift for Australia within the context of the evolving global situation. Facing the rising challenge posed by the 21stcentury authoritarian states, and by the changing nature of alliances in the Pacific and in Europe, Australia needs to enhance its capabilities to operate… Read more »

A “Plan Jericho” for Australian Energy Security: Leveraging the Hydrogen Energy Opportunity

04/12/2019By Robbin Laird During my current visit to Australia, I had an opportunity to continue my discussions with Air Vice Marshal (Retired) John Blackburn with regard to the challenges facing Australian energy security. Increasingly, there is a perception that Australia needs to create an energy reserve or buffer with regard to energy supplies in case of supply chain disruption. And… Read more »

UK to Deploy F-35s to Cyprus for the First Time

04/09/2019Cyprus has provided a key operational launch point for the RAF in the Middle East for some time. Recently, the UK updated its agreement with the Cyprus government for continued operations from Cyprus. In an article published on April 8, 2019 by Hemanth Kumar and Talal Husseini, the new agreement was described: The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signed… Read more »

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The Strategic Shift: The Role and Impact of the F-35 Global Enterprise

03/31/2019The liberal democracies are facing a key strategic shift from a primary focus on the land wars in the Middle East to facing the challenges posed by peer competitors. The Pentagon has referred to this as the return of Great Power competition which requires a significant shift from the forces configured for global deployments against… Download PDF Now »