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Originally published on 2 November 2023. The AUKUS program—sweeping in the intimacy and level of its proposed cooperation—has enjoyed a high level of bipartisan support among the Australian political elite. First agreed by the Coalition ...

The AUKUS program—sweeping in the intimacy and level of its proposed cooperation—has enjoyed a high level of bipartisan support among the Australian political elite. First agreed by the Coalition government in September 2021, it was ...

The Labor party avoided an open stoush over nuclear weapons at last week's national conference. But it would be wrong to imagine the issue's gone away. Nuclear weapons are becoming more prominent in a more ...

The recent defence strategic review has much to recommend it. Even the publicly released unclassified version is the boldest statement of Australian strategic policy in many decades. But it is not without flaws. The chapter ...

This article aims to explore the credibility of future US extended nuclear assurance in Asia. Extended nuclear assurance, all too frequently confused with extended nuclear deterrence, faces a daunting series of challenges: a US strategic mainstream fractured on the roles and purposes of nuclear weapons; an Asia where assurance demands are high during a period of strategic uncertainty; and a US theatre- and tactical-range nuclear arsenal much depleted from its heyday. Meanwhile, nuclear latency is growing in Asia as more countries reach the technological level that the US attained in 1945, as nuclear skill sets become more prevalent, and as delivery vehicles appropriate to nuclear weapons become more typical in regional arsenals. The US now provides extended nuclear assurance to nearly 40 countries worldwide, agreeing to run nuclear risks on behalf of its allies and friends. The bulk of those assurances derive from the NATO alliance, but it is the non-NATO-related assurances-and settings-that seem likely to be the more controversial ones over the next decade or two. Asia is coming into its own at a time when extended nuclear assurance needs reinvigoration as a key ingredient in US strategic policy. (International Affairs (Oxford) / SWP)

This ARI deals with the key decisions on strategic priorities to be adopted by the new Australian Labor Government. The Australian Labor Party came into power in November 2007 after a decade of shadow responsibilities on strategic matters. Now in power, its 'more of the same' approach to security and defence promised during the elections is facing new challenges. Some of the key ministers are almost newcomers to the strategic community and they will have to manage a controversial divide between those supporting a return to traditional defence priorities and those in favour of continuing the shift towards a broader security policy. The design of a new strategic policy is a demanding task that requires the definition and 'operationalising' of a new agenda. This ARI deals with the key decisions to be adopted by the new Australian Labor Government regarding the orderly withdrawal of Australian ground forces from Iraq in 2008, the production of a new White Paper on Defence –and perhaps National Security as well–, strategic and procurement priorities, the Australia–US relationship and the tensions between Australia's global and regional roles.