Scenarios for Syria

June 2, 2012

As the pressure increases for intervention in Syria we canvass the different scenarios that might play out in the troubled nation.

We hear from Israeli academic and journalist Jonathan Spyer, who earlier this year was smuggled across the Turkish border into Syria. On horseback, with local help, he made his way to Idlib and spent a week with rebels from the Free Syrian Army. Read more

Israel’s perspective on Syria

June 1, 2012

Earlier this year Israeli academic and journalist Jonathan Spyer was smuggled across the Turkish border into Syria. On horseback, with local help, he made his way to Idlib and spent a week with rebels from the Free Syrian Army. Two weeks after he returned home, the Syrian Army took the town. He speaks on the regional implications of the conflict in Syria. Read more

North Korea’s Weapons Program

April 26, 2012

On 1 November at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Alan Dupont, the Michael Hintze Chair of International Security at the University of Sydney, explored the implications of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program for global and regional security following Pyongyang’s provocative nuclear test on 9 October.
Read more

2009 Defence White Paper

April 24, 2012

Is the Rudd Government’s new Defence White Paper more of the same or a significant departure from the previous strategic orthodoxy? More importantly, is it affordable, and will future governments commit to the level of spending necessary to ensure that the White Paper’s ambitious goals for the Australian Defence Force are realised? What about the strategic judgements underpinning the decisions on spending and force structure? Is concern about China’s burgeoning military power real, or merely Defence ‘spin’ designed to justify expensive acquisitions?
Read more

Inflection point the ADF after Afghanistan

April 11, 2012

On 29 March 2012, in the Lowy Lecture Series, Professor Alan Dupont launched his a new Lowy Institute Policy Brief, ‘Inflection Point: The Australian Defence Force after Afghanistan’, which suggests that as the ADF transitions from involvement in the Afghanistan conflict the risks of failing to adjust and adapt to new security circumstances are especially high.
Read more

Defensive driving is Smith’s new mission

March 29, 2012

The best way for embattled Defence Minister Stephen Smith to repudiate the criticism that he has lost the confidence and respect of the defence force is to focus on his core job of providing strategic direction to his department. This means more than talking about cultural change or announcing the latest equipment purchase. Read more