With just 27 million people, Australia is the world’s 13th largest economy. It has the 11th largest GDP per capita. It ranks 10th on the human development index. Its major cities consistently rank amongst the world’s “most liveable,” and the vast majority of its population live in a state ofContinue Reading
The year 2000 marked an inflection point for many Western countries, including Australia, in their outlook toward the world. The focus began to shift away from the peacekeeping interventions that had dominated the previous decade to one shaped by counterterrorism operations and deployments to the Middle East. The threat ofContinue Reading
Australia’s alliance with the United States, as former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is now Canberra’s ambassador in Washington, once remarked, is the “bedrock” of the country’s foreign and defense policy. Since the end of World War II, Australia’s security and prosperity have been predicated not only on the primacyContinue Reading
As President Donald Trump and his administration set about tearing up the foundations of the international order and U.S. global leadership, and discarding decades worth of soft power, it is an understatement to say that middle powers like Australia are left in an extremely delicate position. Trump has threatened alliesContinue Reading
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that “the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip” has sent tremors through the international system, generating a wave of condemnation, raising critical legal questions, and provoking widespread concerns about the potential consequences for regional security. While much of the initial focus has beenContinue Reading
This week Australia’s Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles had his first phone call with the United States’ newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The call was a conventional formal exchange of pleasantries and an attempt to build a rapport with a counterpart from a newContinue Reading
