The Australian Defense Minister followed the opening address at the RAAF Airpower Conference 2018 given by Air Marshal Davies with an overview of how she saw the evolving global situation and its impact on the ADF. Senator the Honorable Marise Payne, the Minister of Defence, noted at the outset that…

By Dr Alan Stephens It was the 19th century British prime minister Lord Palmerston who famously remarked that in international relations there are “no eternal allies … only interests”. Palmerston’s hard-headed world view has particular relevance for small- and medium-nations that find themselves drawn into high-intensity warfare. The October 1973…

With changes in the region, and with new dynamics of change in the North Atlantic, how might Australia rethink its defense policy? It is clear that the current government has put in place a fundamental transformation of Australian defense policy with the RAAF being significantly modernized, the navy recapitalized but…

By Robbin Laird When I attended the 2016 RAAF Airpower Conference, the main focus was upon the newly released White Paper and related documents announcing the government’s ways ahead on defense modernization. The Conference highlighted key elements for the modernization of the Australian Defence Force and the importance of shaping…

The core defense DNA characteristics of the Finns is to operate forces in a distributed manner.

Danny Lam was an unconventional thinker and contributed important insights into the evolving strategic situation.