ASPI Podcast: Policy, Guns & Money

As we approach a year since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, Justin Bassi speaks to historian and writer Olesya Khromeychuk. They discuss the resilience of the Ukrainian people, Olesya’s personal experience with conflict and what’s at stake for the international community in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. ASPI Southeast Asia experts Dr Teesta Prakash and Dr Gatra Priyandita discuss th...

This week, ASPI was delighted to host General David Berger, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Brendan Nicholson speaks to General Berger about the US-Australia alliance, military strategy and the importance of interoperability and how the ADF and the Marine Corps can work more closely together. Guests (in order of appearance): Brendan Nicholson: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/brendan-nicholson Gen...

In this special series, ASPI’s Dr David Engel and Dr Gatra Priyandita have spoken to a number of special guests about the Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and the five pillars supporting it. In this final episode of the series, David and Gatra speak to the Hon Tim Watts MP, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Dr Dino Patti Djalal, Founder of the Foreign...

In the first episode of ASPI DC's podcast series 'Washington Talks,' Director Mark Watson sits down with Australia's Ambassador to the United States, The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO, to reflect on his time as Australia's 22nd Ambassador to the United States and to discuss some of the most pressing strategic priorities for the Australia-US alliance. They explore how the Ambassador's childhood in Newca...

Today we examine aspects of nuclear security. ASPI’s Dr Alex Bristow is joined by the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Vice President Scott Roecker and Program Officer Jessica Bufford, alongside Australia’s Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Mr Ian Biggs, for a discussion on the status of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, gender inclusivity, nuclear disarmament...

In the fourth episode of ASPI’s special series ‘What’s In A Name? The Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’, Dr David Engel and Dr Gatra Priyandita are joined by Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Centre on Asia and Globalisation, and leading Indonesian foreign and defence policy expert Bob Lowry, for a discussion on the defence and security dimensi...

In the third episode of ASPI’s special series ‘What’s In A Name? The Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’, Dr David Engel and Dr Gatra Priyandita are joined by the Center for Strategic and International Studies Lina Alexandra and John McCarthy AO for a discussion on the diplomatic aspects of the Partnership. They examine the trust in the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationsh...

Fergus Hunter speaks with Bonnie Glaser Managing Director of GMF Indo-Pacific at the German Marshall Fund, about the state of China and its relationships with the United States and the West. They look at the ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party, how nation states are responding to this, and the current state of Cross-Strait relations. Access to violent right-wing extremist online subcultures i...

This week, it’s all about space! Recently, ASPI hosted international military, industry and academic experts for a series of events focused on space and national security. In this podcast, we are delighted to be joined by special guests Jeffrey Becker, Janice Starzyk, Dr Namrata Goswami and Dr Kevin Pollpeter for conversations on this critical domain. Dr Malcolm Davis speaks to Dr Namrata Goswami...

Daria Impiombato speaks with ASPI Senior Fellow Vicky Xu about the anti-government protests sweeping through some of China’s largest cities. Vicky, who has spoken with protesters on the ground, gives up-to-the-minute insights into the protesters’ motivation and tactics, and discusses what the demonstrations mean for the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Guests (in order of appearance): Daria Impiomb...

This week at ASPI has been all about space security. We were delighted to be joined by Lieutenant General Nina Armagno, Director of Staff, Headquarters at U.S. Space Force, and Lieutenant General John Shaw, Deputy Commander at U.S. Space Command for a series of space-focused events. To continue the conversation, ASPI’s Bec Shrimpton asks General Armagno and General Shaw about opportunities and com...

In the second episode of ASPI’s special series ‘What’s In A Name? The Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’, Dr David Engel and Dr Gatra Priyandita speak to Dr Arianto Patunru and Nicola Yeomans, two people who were instrumental in the Partnership’s creation. They explore the economic dimensions of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, existing trade barriers and how to improve...

‘What’s In A Name? The Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. In a new special podcast series, ASPI’s Dr David Engel and Dr Gatra Priyandita explore the Australia-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the ‘five pillars’ supporting it. In the coming weeks, David and Gatra will be joined by leading thinkers on the Australia-Indonesia relationship to discuss the histori...

This week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Xinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Indonesia. This was the first time an Australian Prime Minister met with President Xi since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016. David Wroe speaks to Dr Alex Bristow about the significance of the meeting and what this means for the bilateral relationship, as well as other developm...

Fergus Hanson speaks to Rick Rossow about the trajectory of the US-India relationship and lessons for Canberra in how Washington and New Delhi have approached their relationship. They also discuss India’s domestic and foreign policy priorities, including on data security. Staying on the theme of India’s foreign policy, Baani Grewal speaks to Akriti Vasudeva and Dr Teesta Prakash. Their conversatio...

This week, Moscow claimed that Kyiv is planning to use a dirty-bomb, allegations that the US, UK and French foreign ministers have condemned as “transparently false”. Given the renewed focus on nuclear threats, Dr Alex Bristow asks Kelsey Hartigan about progress on non-proliferation issues, risk reduction and the links between integrated deterrence and non-proliferation. The LAND 400 Phase 3 proje...

Peter Tesch was until two months ago one of Australia’s most senior and experienced national security and foreign affairs officials. His roles included Ambassador to Moscow and, most recently, Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Policy and Industry at the Department of Defence. As such, no one in Australia has a better understanding of Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, his ambitions for Russia and the en...

In this special episode of Policy, Guns and Money, Justin Bassi speaks to Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at CNAS, and former senior director for South and Central Asia on the US NSC, and Bec Shrimpton, Director of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue and former Senior Advisor - Major Powers to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women. They discuss det...

The Chinese Government is using popular Uyghur and other minority influencers on YouTube to promote a sanitised image of frontier regions such as Xinjiang that is starkly at odds with the picture that has emerged internationally of severe human rights abuses. Fergus Ryan and Daria Impiombato speak to David Wroe about their latest report ‘Frontier influencers: the new face of China’s propaganda’, w...

This week, senior Chinese Communist Party officials are meeting in Beijing for the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where Xi Jinping will secure a third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party. In this special episode, Dr Samantha Hoffman and Charlie Parton provide insights into the Party Congress – what it is, the importance of ideology and why it matters, as well as ini...

Semiconductors are the incredibly sophisticated and complex computer chips that power all modern electronics. They’re essential for everything from smartphones to nuclear submarines and from medical equipment to wireless communications. There’s been an increased focus on semiconductors of late, with the passing of the CHIPS and Science Act in the United States and tensions in the Taiwan Strait ove...

Following the Honiara riots in November 2021, the Chinese Communist Party has pushed false narratives in coordinated information operations in an attempt to shape Solomon Islands public perception and to undermine the country’s relationships with Australia and the United States. To discuss this, David Wroe speaks to Blake Johnson, lead author of ASPI’s latest report on the CCP’s information operat...

Last week, Optus notified the media and its customers that personal data had been compromised in a cyber attack. The compromised data included names, dates of birth, postal addresses, drivers licence and passport numbers. Fergus Hanson and Jocelinn Kang discuss the implications of this breach, the dangers of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and why Australia should consider prohibiting th...

Plenty of security experts feel that the defence industry could learn a bit from Silicon Valley when it comes to moving more quickly, embracing disruption and making quicker decisions. One of them is Dr Bill Greenwalt of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most sought-after US thinkers on defence acquisition. He’s a former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer and deputy defense unders...

Legislating a 43% emissions reduction target is a welcome start, but it’s not enough. That was the message from former Kiribati President Anote Tong and former Palau President Tommy Remengesau on their recent visit to Canberra. For Australia to be able to look future generations of Pacific Islanders in the eye, it needs to do more to contribute to lowering global greenhouse emissions, including en...