ASPI Podcast: Policy, Guns & Money

This Sunday 31st October, the COP26 Summit kicks off in Glasgow, where it’s expected that leaders will bring bigger commitments to 2030 emissions reduction targets and outline bolder climate policies. Dr Robert Glasser and Anastasia Kapetas discuss Australia’s climate commitments going into COP, and whether they are sufficient to address climate impacts in Australia and our region. They also discu...

In this episode of ‘The Bigger Picture’ series, Michael Shoebridge speaks to Dr Charles Edel. They consider everything from US politics and Biden’s domestic agenda to US foreign policy and the significance of AUKUS. They also discuss the strategic outlook in the Indo-Pacific, opportunities for US engagement in the region, and the Biden Administration’s China strategy. Dr. Charles Edel is a Global...

Anastasia Kapetas speaks to Elmira Bayrasli, Co-Founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted and Director of Bard College’s Global and International Affairs program about gender, geopolitics and national security. They discuss the importance of women in national security and the critical contributions they make to global security, and what motivated Elmira to co-found Foreign Policy Interrupted. Elmira B...

In this episode of ‘The Bigger Picture’ series, Anastasia Kapetas speaks to Professor Mary Kaldor about the concept of human security and how it evolved. They consider whether the lessons being learned from recent events in Afghanistan are the right ones, what a human security approach to terrorism looks like and the need to strengthen democracies in the context of rising authoritarianism. Mary Ka...

ASPI's Executive Director Peter Jennings speaks to the Honourable Joe Hockey, former Australian Ambassador to the United States of America and Treasurer of Australia, and Founding Partner and President of the advisory firm Bondi Partners. They discuss the recent AUKUS announcement, what it was like to be ambassador to the United States during the Trump administration and opportunities for growth i...

Stabilising fragile states has been a long-term focus of US foreign policy, this also became a focus of the US and its allies in their operations in Afghanistan. Anastasia Kapetas speaks to Frances Brown from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about the lessons that can be learnt from Afghanistan and how the United States can work with allies and like-minded countries to promote democr...

This week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the establishment of a new defence pact between Australia, the US and the UK - AUKUS. As part of this new partnership, Australia will move to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and has cancelled its $90 billion submarine program with France’s Naval Group. Peter Jennings, Michael Shoebridge and...

Welcome to episode 100 of Policy, Guns and Money! To celebrate our 100th episode, ASPI's Executive Director Peter Jennings speaks to former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the Honourable Kim Beazley, Governor of Western Australia. They consider some of the key strategic events from the past twenty years, including the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan; the importance of the US-Aus...

On 1 September 1951, the ANZUS Treaty was signed in San Francisco. Peter Jennings speaks to Mike Goldman, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Australia, about the importance of the US-Australia alliance and the relevance of the Treaty seventy years on. They discuss shared challenges, including climate change; what makes the alliance so enduring, and what to expect from the upcoming AUSMIN mee...

In this very special episode, Peter Jennings, Michael Shoebridge and Graeme Dobell discuss the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s 20-year history which has been marked by the the production of a sparkling and insightful work: ‘An informed voice: ASPI, 2001-2021’ They explore some of the key strategic moments for Australia over the past two decades and discuss some of the highlights from ASPI’...

Following the collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the US and its allies are accelerating efforts to evacuate their citizens and Afghan refugees from the country. Brendan Nicholson speaks to Peter Jennings about how the security situation deteriorated so rapidly, the short and long-term security risks for Afghanistan and how China might look to engage with the Ta...

Since the withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban's military offensive across the country has seen the group capture a number of provincial capitals over the past week, including Afghanistan's third largest city, Herat. Anastasia Kapetas speaks to counterinsurgency expert Dr David Kilcullen about the future of governance in Afghanistan. They also discuss the geopolitics of...

This special episode features an excerpt from a recent ASPI webinar with international cyber expert Marietje Schaake on technology, democracy and the question of accountability. Marietje joined ASPI’s Fergus Hanson for a conversation on the challenges that technologies create for and how democracies can work together amidst rising authoritarianism to better regulate technologies. They discussed th...

Recently, Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia have hit new highs, making it the global epicentre of the coronavirus. As countries across the region try to curb the spread of the Delta variant, Richard Maude and Dr Huong Le Thu detail how Australia can support its neighbours and the region’s potential path to recovery. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, which governs interna...

Earlier this month, Cuban citizens took to the streets across the country to protest against deteriorating living conditions amidst the country’s economic and coronavirus crisis. ASPI’s David Engel was previously Australian Ambassador to Mexico and non-resident ambassador to Cuba. He speaks with Professor Adrian Hearn about the protests and their political significance, the impact of social media...

Last Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz became the first democratic leader to visit Beijing and meet President Xi Jinping since he tightened his grip on power at the 20th Communist Party Congress in October. ASPI Analyst Daria Impiombato speaks to the President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Joerg Wuttke, about the significance of the highly-contested visit and what it mean...

On 11th July, billionaire Richard Branson joined Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed test flight to space. Billionaire Jeff Bezos will soon follow suit on the first Blue Origin crewed flight on July 20. Dr Malcolm Davis speaks with Dr Cassandra Steer from the ANU Institute of Space and College of Law to discuss this new era for space tourism and its potential implications. The arrest of former So...

UN Peacekeeping operations are an extremely important part of the UN’s contribution to international peace and security. Peacekeeping expert Associate Professor Charlie Hunt from RMIT University joins Lisa Sharland to discuss some of the challenges facing the UN in delivering these important operations and the future of peacekeeping, and how Australia can increase its presence in peacekeeping oper...

Lisa Sharland is joined by Professor Joanne Wallis, Professor of International Security at the University of Adelaide, to discuss her chapter on ‘Strategic Competition and the Pacific Islands’ in the Institute for International and Strategic Studies Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2021. They discuss the challenges posed by strategic competition in the region, opportunities for Australian...

Anastasia Kapetas is joined by John Schaus, Senior Fellow of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. They explore the concept of asymmetric power and deterrence, how it is used by different actors and how the US and its allies should respond. In May this year, the Chinese government announced the three-child policy, an initiative designed to help i...

Arguably the biggest submarine program in the Western world outside of the United States, Australia’s submarine development continues to raise concerns around cost. Michael Shoebridge and Dr Marcus Hellyer examine the outcomes of the recent Senate Estimates in relation to the underwater program, and what the life-of-type upgrades mean for the submarine’s future. ASPI’s Mapping China’s Technology G...

Recently, national security debates in the United States and Australia have been heavily focused on the likelihood of conflict in the Taiwan Straits. Anastasia Kapetas is joined by Ryan Hass, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution to discuss the credibility of this narrative. They discuss the likelihood of conflict over Taiwan and how Taiwan can counter China’s actions. Dr Robert Glasser is jo...

This week we are excited to share a special episode on Africa Day. Celebrated annually on 25 May, Africa Day commemorates the 1963 founding of the African Union. Lisa Sharland speaks to Ambassador Martin Kimani, the new permanent representative of Kenya to the United Nations. They discuss Kenya’s role on the UN Security Council, engaging in multilateralism via Zoom and counter-terrorism. Brendan N...

Recently, ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre released a new report which found that birth rates in Uyghur-majority areas in Xinjiang have fallen by unprecedented amounts since 2017. Danielle Cave speaks to report authors Dr James Leibold and Nathan Ruser about the government policies behind this birth-rate drop and some of the report’s key findings. The International Energy Agency has releas...

In April, President Biden held the first Leaders Summit on Climate which saw a number of countries commit to more ambitious reduction targets. Research intern Matthew Page speaks to Associate Professor Matt McDonald from the University of Queensland about Australia’s hesitancy to set a target date for emission reductions, the impacts of climate on Australia’s national security and whether investme...