In mid July 2004 the UK Ministry of Defence outlined potential cuts of up to 25 per cent in existing UK combat systems and 20 per cent in UK personnel numbers within four years. The UK believes precision targeting has lowered the need for as many people and platforms, operations further afield require lighter forces...

During the period from the Whitlam government through to the Howard government there has been significant movement across a range of economic indicators. This is to be expected over a period which has seen two major recessions and in which the economy has grown more than two and a half times its original size. Peter...

August 2004 sees the thirtieth anniversary of the joint sitting of Parliament held shortly after the double dissolution election of 18 May 1974. in this Research Note Scott Bennett looks at how the joint sitting was organised and discusses the politics surrounding this event.

The Canadian election of 28 June saw the election of a hung Parliament, with the Liberal Government remaining in power with the likely support of the NDP. In this Research Note Scott Bennett gives the background to the election, discusses the campaign, and speculates on the likely future of the minority government, the tenth in...

On 3 May 2004, the Attorney-General first used his new, executive power to proscribe the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as a 'terrorist organisation'. Seventeen groups have been proscribed as terrorist organisations under Australian law to date, but PIJ is the only one of those groups not also listed by the United Nations Security Council...