The Chinese Challenge WITHIN Australia

08/29/2017
2017-08-29 The PRC is not simply playing classic global power politics. They are working within key allied nations, including key ones like Australia and the United States, to achieve their power ambilitions. In an interview earlier this month, Ross Babbage, the Australian strategist discussed the challenge as follows: We then…

Remembering Jefferson and Adams: Moving Beyond the Confrontation in Charlottesville

08/24/2017
2017-08-21 By Kenneth Maxwell The long and troubled legacy of slavery unfolded again last weekend in Charlottesville, which is the home of the University of Virginia.  Thomas Jefferson designed its Rotunda. His recently restored statue stands before it. This is where the white "nationalists" marched with their burning torches, as…

The Way Ahead for the RAAF in an Integrated Defense Force: The Perspective of the New Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Zed Roberton

08/24/2017
2017-08-21 By Robbin Laird During the current visit to Australia, I had a chance to talk with the newly appointed Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Zed Roberton. I have had the chance to talk with him before so this meeting was more in the mode of continuing the conversation and…

Operating in Contested Airspace: Air Commodore Lennon Discusses the Way Ahead for the Lift and Tanking Fleet

08/23/2017
2017-08-18 By Robbin Laird During my current trip to Australia, I had a chance to talk again with the Air Mobility Commander of the Royal Australian Air Force, Air Commodore Richard Lennon. We last met earlier this year at Amberley Airbase. During that visit, Air Commodore Richard Lennon, the head…