In The Thick Of Syria And Iraq: ‘Days Of The Fall: A Reporter’s Journey In The Syria And Iraq Wars’ – Review

June 22, 2019

Author and journalist Jonathan Spyer’s latest book explores the disintegration of the Middle East over the past decade. Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars is an up-close and personal account of the two major conflicts in the region that exemplify its descent into chaos, both physical and moral.

Spyer had been focusing on the Levant in general, and Syria in particular, for a good few years before President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was caught up in the revolutionary fervour sweeping across the Arab world. Read more

Dr Alan Dupont receives Queens Birthday Award

June 12, 2019

Seventeen UNSW Canberra alumni were recognised for their contribution to Australian society in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Dr Alan Dupont, a 1971 graduate, received the honour of Officer (AO) in the General Division for distinguished service to the international community through security analysis and strategic policy development.
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Crackdown on Chinese tech giant Huawei has global ramifications

June 8, 2019

Cold War 2.0 is heating up as Washington continues to push back against predatory Chinese behaviour widely perceived in the US as an existential threat to the country’s technological pre-eminence and national security.

In a devastating blow to Huawei likened to a digital missile salvo, the Trump administration last month effectively barred the Chinese leviathan from access to the US telecommunications system and difficult-to-replace technology. Read more

Quest for a key strategy to bind them all

May 3, 2019

One of the smartest moves Bill Shorten made when he became Opposition Leader was to make Labor a small target on national security by endorsing most of the Coalition’s national security initiatives. This small-target approach neutralised a traditional Coalition strength while shoring up Labor’s security credentials, which had been weakened by the Rudd-Gillard government’s policy disarray on asylum-seekers and perceived softness on border protection.
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Trade alliances caught in crossfire as the giants clash

April 5, 2019

Will they or won’t they? The gyrations of Theresa May’s discombobulated government have dominated the headlines as British parliamentarians agonise over whether to leave the EU or remain. But the same question also is being asked of trade negotiations between the US and China as the two countries inch their way towards a deal that many believe will determine the trajectory of the most important relationship in the world.
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Lecture: Will China Rule the World?

February 16, 2019

Alan gave a presentation on China at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver on 16 February. The title of his presentation was “Will China Rule the World?” and the slides can be accessed here. Read more

Insult to Trump’s own intelligence

February 4, 2019

Donald Trump’s apparent belief that his intelligence community is conspiring against him is one of the most worrying aspects of his mercurial presidency. In last week’s Twitter storm against the Worldwide Threat Assessment presented by his intelligence chiefs to a congressional committee, the US President took issue with several of their key judgments, Read more

West at risk as US loses military edge

January 26, 2019

The West is slowly losing the contest for pre-eminence in the emerging international order. Brexit is just one manifestation of the crisis of confidence enveloping liberal democracies beset by a rising tide of dissent, self-doubt, identity pol­itics and a loss of trust in the foundational institutions of the post-World War II order. Read more

A Foreign Affair discussion on Britain, Russia, China and Afghanistan

January 26, 2019

A Foreign Affair discussion focusses on the British and Brexit, Putin’s alliances and his visit to Serbia, China’s space race and what this means to globally and recent attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan and what this means for peace talks as well as ISIS attacks in Syria against US marines. Read more