This time, ignoring North Korean nuclear weapons is no longer an option

July 8, 2017

With exquisite political timing, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un effectively gatecrashed this week’s G20 summit and US Independence Day celebrations by test-firing his country’s first genuinely intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4.
We have become so used to Kim’s provocative missile diplomacy and the impotency of the international response it’s easy to dismiss this latest missile test as likely to elicit nothing more than the customary ineffectual hand-wringing.
But this time it’s different.
Read more

Australia Joins Philippines’ Fight Against Islamic State-Linked Militants

June 23, 2017

“It’s pretty clear they’re trying to emulate what ISIS has done in the Middle East,” said Alan Dupont, a strategic analyst at the Lowy Institute, a foreign-policy think tank in Sydney. “Marawi would be a magnet for disaffected people in Southeast Asia, including in Australia.” Australia has more at stake in the Philippines conflict than the U.S., Dr. Dupont added, because it is much closer.
Read more

Opinion: U.S. Warship Sails Near Island Claimed by Beijing in South China Sea

May 24, 2017

“Australia is extremely reluctant to participate in freedom of navigation operations that involve flying over or sailing through the 12 nautical miles around the islands,” said Alan Dupont, a former Australian military intelligence official.

“The Australian government feels it would be provocative and upset China,” Mr. Dupont said. “It feels it would be counterproductive now that China has militarized the islands.”
Read more

Exploring the future of the US-Australia relationship

May 3, 2017

Emma Alberici speaks to former Australian foreign minister and director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney Bob Carr, and Former US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich about the impact that the meeting between the two leaders will have on global affairs.

Alan Dupont is interviewed on the Australia-US relations in a special report within the broadcast by Michael Vincent.

Watch the full broadcast recording here.

When Turnbull Meets Trump

May 1, 2017

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump is an opportunity to deliver some key messages about the role the United States should play globally and in Asia.

KEY FINDINGS
– Turnbull should emphasise the importance of a strong US leadership role in the world.
– He should make the case for the importance of acting in concert with allies and like-minded countries, especially Australia.
– Turnbull should shape the administration’s still unformed Asia policy by ensuring that the United States remains constructively engaged in the region.
Read more

Turnbull to meet Trump in New York

May 1, 2017

Later this week Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will have his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump, just months after the two leaders had a tense phone conversation over the Manus Island refugee resettlement deal.

Alan Dupont speaks with Linda Lopresti at Radio National.

Listen to the full interview.

US attacks on Syria

April 8, 2017

When President Trump came to office, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was seen as a useful ally in the fight against so-called Islamic State. All talk of regime change stopped.

Rarely has a foreign policy changed so radically, so quickly and been acted on so decisively. Read more