Michael Hamel-Green of Victoria University in Melbourne writes that while Australia has generally been a strong supporter of nuclear weapons-free zones (NWFZs) "there are a number of "initiatives that Australia might take both within its own region and more broadly to strengthen regional denuclearisation initiatives. These include strengthening and extending the 1985 Raratonga Treaty; providing...

Richard Broinowski of the University of Sydney notes that the Joint Statement on Enhanced Global and Security Cooperation between Australia and the Republic of Korea "provides for expanded practical defence cooperation in military information-sharing, peace-keeping, civil-military cooperation, joint exercises and training, and technical exchanges in defence industries". The difficulty, Broinowski argues, "is that, like Australia’s...

Richard Leaver of Flinders University writes that the current regime of IAEA inspections in Nuclear Weapon States characterized by “discretionary and partial coverage of inspections, can have no future in a world aiming for nuclear disarmament.” Leaver seeks the “missing lessons” for Australian uranium export safeguards policy of Canada’s experience in supplying two Candu-6 reactors...

Allan Behm from the Canberra security consultancy firm Knowledge Pond writes that “the geophysical and ecological forces that are currently (re)shaping the physical environment add another layer of complexity to the political and economic forces that have hitherto determined the longer-term strategic prospects of Indonesia and Australia. How competently – and proactively – Indonesia and...

Richard Broinowski of the University of Sydney writes “with a mixture of hope and doubt” about nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.