No joke
The Trump administration’s approach to the world can be summed up in three emojis: fist, American flag, fire. The president, meanwhile, is busy “not joking” about staying in office for an unconstitutional third term.
January 2025
The hands of the Doomsday Clock show the world is ignoring a potential three-headed catastrophe
The apocalyptic “the end is nigh” was a popular meme for the image of despair and exclusion from the accelerating prosperity of America and the West.
For the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to be meaningful, an enduring peace must be the objective
When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? When it is between Hamas and Israel, with Donald Trump as a late arrival to the treaty birthing suite in the role of midwife.
Victim-in-chief
The second Trump era has begun.
November 2024
The AUKward truth about the US relationship
With its democracy under assault, America needs a friend, not a flunkey.
October 2024
Ozymandias Revisited – The doomed conceit of AUKUS
Three years on, there is still no compelling argument, strategic or otherwise, for Australia’s acquiring eight Virginia class nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs). Nor is there any compelling calculation of the large lick of funding – $368 billion and more – that the program will soak up. Only Defence seems able to command such stupendous outlays when
Finding peace is hard, but unending mutual destruction is in no one’s interest
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Caught in the headlights
We discuss America’s apparent crisis of confidence, the conflict in the Middle East, and the Vice-Presidential debate.
July 2024
Return of the king?
What does the Supreme Court’s monumental ruling on presidential immunity mean for the future of American democracy?
May 2024
NDS needs reality, not imagination
The 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) looks more like the impactless pronouncements of consultants’ “decks” than a persuasive guide to the government’s security plans for the next decade or two.
April 2024
Promoting a Free and Peaceful Indo-Pacific
Allan Behm’s address to the Australian Institute of International Affairs Korea Forum, Sydney on 15 April 2024.
March 2024
Who Pays the Piper…Universities Dance to the AUKUS Tune
When AUKUS was announced, the ANU was quick off the mark to cash in.
February 2024
Valentine’s Day, Indonesia style
Wednesday 14 February is a big day in Indonesia. The nation goes to the polls, and a new President will be elected. A popular and successful President will be succeeded by one of three candidates, none of whom is especially popular or generates much enthusiasm among voters.
May 2023
Defence Strategic Review: A case of ‘so much for so little’?
For a document that self-advertises as “the most substantial and ambitious approach to Defence … since the second World War”, the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) is neither.
Modi, the Quad, and the latest on AUKUS
From Narendra Modi’s recent visit, to the cancelled Quad summit meeting, to new developments in the AUKUS nuclear submarine agreement, it’s been a busy few weeks in international relations for Australia. This was recorded on Wednesday 25th May 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Guest: Allan Behm, Director,
March 2023
“The Worst Deal in All History”
The Federal Government’s recent announcement that the AUKUS deal will cost an eye-watering $368 billion sent the media into a spin, with former PM Paul Keating calling it ‘the worst deal in all history.” The deal to acquire nuclear submarines from the United States has been a bumpy process, to say the least. But what
AUKUS: Submarines on the Never Never, or Castles in the Sky?
AUKUS has landed – well, sort of.
December 2022
Australia’s perceptions of strategic risks and policy responses
This presentation to the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network’s European Leadership Network explores Australian perceptions of strategic risk, the country’s heightened sense of threat and the differences between the two. In short, threats come and go, while risk is a constant in a world that is inherently chaotic. Long-term strategic policy needs to be based on analysis of risk and its mitigation, not on perceived threats.
November 2022
Australia Not Currently Capable of Delivering Nuclear Subs Project: Defence Experts
The mammoth task of purchasing, operating, and maintaining nuclear-powered submarines is beyond Australia’s current industrial, skills and technological capacity to deliver, according to a new research paper by defence experts. Experts say the ambitious project is achievable, but only if the building blocks are put in place with great care and deliberation. The report, Australia’s
October 2022
The Australian Political Book of the Year Award 2022 longlist: No Enemies No Friends
We are delighted to announce that No Enemies No Friends: Restoring Australia’s Global Relevance has been longlisted for the inaugural Australian Political Book of the Year Award.
July 2022
Follow the Money LIVE!
For this special live episode of Follow the Money, the panel will be discussing: A New Agenda for a New Parliament: Climate Action, International Affairs & Integrity – Yes Please! bringing together diverse knowledge on all fronts of climate & energy, international & security affairs, and integrity issues. This was recorded on Wednesday 13th July
May 2022
Opportunity for strategic recalibration?
The election of a new government presents Australia with a much-needed opportunity to reappraise its place in the world. In less than 20 years, we have segued from serious engagement in Asia and a leadership role in the Pacific to marginal significance in the affairs of Asia (except as a massive mine and a source
An Australian COP29
Australia has never hosted a United Nations climate conference (COP) and the recent proposal from the Labor Party to bid for the 2024 COP in partnership with the Pacific could shift Australia’s reputation from climate laggard to regional leader. Hosting a COP would also have a number of economic, diplomatic and security co-benefits. This was
April 2022
Lest we forget the horror of war, from Gallipoli to the Pacific
On ANZAC Day our nation remembers and honours those who lost their lives in that failed, bloody mission at Gallipoli in 1915. Today, with a war in Europe and instability closer to home, it’s worth contemplating how we can best honour the memory of the fallen by avoiding repeating the mistakes of the past.
March 2022
No Enemies, No Friends with Allan Behm [webinar]
‘We’re not sure of who we are and we don’t know what we stand for’ – Allan Behm
January 2022
Australia can learn from Asean when it comes to Russia-Ukraine stand-off
Make no mistake: the heightened risk of armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has serious implications for Europe, especially the Nato members, as it does for the rest of the world. But most importantly, it has massive strategic consequences for the US. And that’s where it matters for Australia. To judge from much western media
Summer Series – Feeling the Heat with Marian Wilkinson, Richard Denniss and Allan Behm [webinar]
Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation with award-winning journalist Marian Wilkinson and the Australia Institute’s chief economist Richard Denniss and Allan Behm, International & Security Affairs program director, about the growing pressure on Australia, as global and regional powers
November 2021
Paul Keating on Australia’s national interest, Taiwan, and the absurdity of war
Australia is still trying to find its place in Asia, Paul Keating says, which explains why we’re so preoccupied with Taiwan and China.
I’d appreciate it if ministers lost their appetite for decapitation
NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption has revealed extraordinary amorality and cynicism in how the Berejiklian government, and its predecessors, approached both public policy and the use of public money. The ICAC has also revealed Berejiklian’s vicious approach to imposing compliance, complicity and ultimately connivance on the public servants who advise government. In an extraordinary few
October 2021
The AUKUS pact and China
Will the AUKUS pact ensure Australia’s long term security or is it little more than a stunt?
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