Despite ending its 20-year military operations in the Middle East, Australia’s equities in the region are now more substantial than ever, writes Rodger Shanahan.

Australia’s recent closure of its embassy in Kabul, and the withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021, casts a deep shadow over Afghanistan’s future prospects. In this paper, leading expert on Afghanistan, William Maley, examines the implications for the Afghan nation...

As a liberal democracy, Australia needs its own report on US torture in Iraq and has a legal and moral obligation to prevent torture.

At least 74 opinions, memoranda, and letters issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) between 2002 and 2009 on core post-9/11 national security topics, including intelligence activities and the detention and interrogation of terrorist suspects, remain entirely classified, according to this new...

This report breaks down the Islamic State’s media activities through a two-fold approach. First, it examines a small number of declassified documents captured from the group’s predecessors to provide a baseline understanding its present-day media structure and operations. Second, through an examination of over 9,000...

Tehran has reportedly sent around one thousand élite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) troops to back up its proxy Hezbollah forces that are fighting Islamic State terrorists in Syria.

The war against Al Qaeda and its allies may well become the defining conflict of our age. Certainly it is cited as evidence of a transformation of war that is sweeping away older modes of warfare. This paper seeks to explain the reasons for the...

Taking bearings from critical currents of thought in south Asia and black Africa and beyond, this paper discusses some of the differences in how postcolonialism is read from place to place in the light of local politics and culture. The paper makes a case for...

Most other countries have laws that also prohibit the urging or incitement of violence. Such laws are designed to recognise that, in a liberal democracy, it is not permissible to use the cloak of freedom of expression to encourage crimes of violence, writes Edward Santow.

This guide contains links to Internet resources and documents in the area of anti-terrorism law. Emphasis is on Australian federal (Commonwealth) legislation. Links to Australian State and Territory legislation are also given, as well as significant overseas resources. The guide was prepared by the Federal...

In the months and years following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States, a number of people suspected of involvement with terrorist organisations or their activities were apprehended in various countries around the world. Many of these people were, and in...

Justice has been sacrificed again at Guantanamo Bay, writes Geoffrey Barker.

David Hicks admitted nothing more than he had described in letters home, writes Andrew Lynch.

The trial of the accused terrorist, Australian David Hicks, is due to start before a United States Military Commission in March 2005. Angus Martyn provides a brief factual background on the Military Commissions and summarises the key developments to date in the pre-trial proceedings.

In mid-October 2003, the Attorney-General announced the creation of a new National Threat Assessment Centre (NTAC), to be housed within ASIO and staffed by secondees from police, security and other relevant agencies. As a 24-hour unit dedicated to analysing threats to the security of Australian...

Papers and webcasts from this conference, held on 10 November 2003, are available online. Speakers included the federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock; the NSW Police Minister, John Watkins; Jenny Hocking from the National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University; Senator John Faulkner, leader of the...

The term "war against terrorism" must be understood in a political and not a legal sense. Since the advent of the United Nations Charter in 1945 war is no longer a right of states. The use of force must be restricted to the circumstances allowed...