After months of political debate, the US Congress reached a cautious agreement last week on raising the US debt ceiling and cutting government expenditure. The issue was devisive and needed compromise from all political parties, with the initial plan calling for US$900 billion in domestic discretionary cuts as well as US$600 billion in cuts to...

Two and a half years after the first National Security Statement to Parliament, it can be argued that the first wave of national security reforms is over. The key building blocks of a national security ‘community’ have been put in place. The challenge now is to convert those reforms into a more comprehensive national security...

This publication that brings together information across the full-range of Defence activity in a single, reference source. Chapters cover: Defence and strategy looking at the constitutional and legislative basis for Defence, the military justice system, Australian strategic policy and Australia's place in the world.

This report argues Australia should develop a comprehensive approach to replace the Pacific Patrol Boat Program. Australia has supplied twenty-two boats to twelve island countries for maritime security. The vessels will start reaching the end of their service lives from 2018. But Australia’s future plans for Pacific maritime aid remain opaque.

This report looks at the difficult public policy issues raised by the increased dependence on computer networks for almost every aspect of our lives and the growing amount of hostile activity on those networks.