This paper analyses Vietnam’s strategic trajectory over the past two decades, with an emphasis on its relations with China and the US, its policies on the South China Sea dispute, and the implications for regional players. The paper provides an overview of the rationales and mechanisms of Vietnam’s strategic policymaking. It then goes on to...

This paper considers the positions of US and Israeli leaders, the current negotiations, and the possible drivers for a military strike against Iran. Over the last six months, the prospects of an Israeli preemptive strike against the Iranian nuclear weapons program have been much discussed. The Iranian nuclear program is an important issue for Australia...

The numbers tell the story - next year the defence budget will fall in real terms by 10.5%, the largest year‐on‐year reductions since the end of the Korean conflict in 1953. As a result, defence spending as a share of GDP will fall to 1.56%, the smallest figure recorded by Australia since the eve of...

India’s role in the Asia–Pacific is still circumscribed by a number of restraints that act to shape a ‘continental’ posture to its security—despite its ‘Look East’ rhetoric. Factors determining the continental posture include India’s difficult internal and border security environments; its large number of people still living in poverty; its strategy of ‘inclusive growth’, which...

At the 15 September 2011 AUSMIN talks in San Francisco, Australian and US officials took advantage of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the ANZUS Treaty to announce the alliance would now extend into cyberspace. It was the first time, outside of NATO, that two allies had formalised their joint cooperation in cyberspace. The...