The Next Phase of Australian National Security Strategy: Noise Before Defeat 4

12/21/2020
I am in the throes of finishing up my book on the evolution of Australian defence strategy over the past several years, from 2014 until now. With the announcement of the new government defence strategy by Prime Minister Morrison on July 1, 2020, it seemed a good time to draw…

European Support Continued in Fight Against Boko Haram Insurgency

12/20/2020
By defenceWeb In fulfilment of its pledge to provide additional support to enhance the operational efficiency of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), mandated to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency, the European Union (EU) has provided command, control, communication and information systems (C3IS) to the Force. In…

Potosí and its Silver: The Beginnings of Globalization

12/13/2020
By Kenneth Maxwell A decade after the Spanish Conquistadores toppled the Inca Empire (1532-34), an indigenous Andean prospector, Diego Gualpa, in 1545, stumbled onto the richest silver deposit in the world on a high mountain of 4,800 meters (15,750 feet) in the eastern cordillera of the Bolivian Andes. Here in…

Australian Support for Japanese Space Efforts

12/05/2020
The Department of Defence and the Australian Space Agency are supporting the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Hayabusa2 mission to return the first ever sub-surface asteroid samples to Earth from the asteroid Ryugu. The Hayabusa2 sample return capsule landed in the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA) on 6 December 2020. Hayabusa2…

Taiwan Trends and Scenarios: Challenge for the Next U.S. Administration

12/04/2020
By Richard Weitz One of the major issues confronting the next U.S. administration is to fortify Taiwan’s defense and deterrent capabilities against the growing threat from the People’s Republic of China. The last few years have seen increasing PRC pressure on Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China. There…

Moving About During COVID-19: Observations of a Traveler

12/01/2020
By Robbin Laird During 2020, with the pandemic descending upon the world, my usual year of global travel obviously was not to be. But except for April and May 2020, I travelled at least once a month within the United States from June to December and globally from January to…

Strengthening the Indian-U.S. Defense Partnership

11/17/2020
By Richard Weitz The next U.S. presidential administration should build on the positive legacy of the Trump administration in strengthening the Indo-U.S. security ties. The two countries recently held the third round of their yearly “2+2” defense and foreign ministers’ dialogue in New Delhi, continuing a process launched in 2018.…

The European Defence Fund and European Defence: The Perspective of the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market

11/15/2020
By Pierre Tran Paris.  The European Union could raise a total of €30-€40 billion ($35-$47 billion) to finance work on defense and security projects, drawing on the €7 billion budget due to be pledged to the European Defense Fund, Thierry Breton, European commissioner for internal market, said Nov. 13. “With…