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With the rise of China and shifting international power dynamics, New Zealand needs to find its place in a complex system of alliances and partnerships.
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Defence minister Richard Marles’ historic trip sheds some light on the new government’s approach to national security matters.
What he wants. What he really, really wants?
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A scholar of Russian history breaks down what Putin’s aim might be in threatening military invasion, and why that might backfire.
Gareth Fuller/PA
Buying the biggest and best technology is always going to be high risk and expensive.
The EU and NATO: aligned but not always together.
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Why the EU and NATO have struggled to cooperate fully.
PA/Steve Parsons
British interests come first, but Leave voters don’t necessarily want to retreat from international obligations.
We’re all waiting to hear what shape Australia’s Space Agency will take.
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What will Australia’s space agency look like? Two experts agree it needs deliberate investment from government, and that it should facilitate participation across states and territories.
Australian military personnel during a counter-terrorism training exercise in 2014.
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Research partnerships between Australian universities, the Department of Defence and weapons manufacturers may not be ethically justifiable.
The naval shipbuilding plan is undoubtedly a major step forward for industrial capability in Australia.
AAP/David Mariuz
Australia’s long-awaited naval shipbuilding plan has two interconnected weaknesses when it comes to sovereignty.
The Pine Gap facility, southwest of Alice Springs.
Felicity Ruby/Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability
More than ever, Pine Gap remains at the heart of the Australian alliance with the United States, but serious reform is needed.
French policemen investigating the abandonment of a car packed with gas cylinders near Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral.
REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
The recent arrest of female terrorists in France brought attention to the role women play in IS. A group of American academics studied this issue – with a surprising result.
For Australia, the US election should provide an opportunity to rethink defence relationships, especially as they relate to nuclear weapons.
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Is Australia’s reliance on nuclear defence agreements keeping us on the wrong side of history?
John Howard confirms the nation’s involvement in the war in Iraq in March 2003, a decision subject to remarkably little oversight by comparison to Australia’s allies.
AAP/Alan Porritt
It is important to restore public trust in any future decision for Australia to go to war. For this, a system that provides better democratic accountability is essential.
The French submarine, Shortfin Barracuda, designed by the DCNS group, to be the design base for Australia’s new fleet.
AAP Image/DCNS Group
Australia’s new submarine fleet will be designed for a range of different missions in our challenging maritime environment.
If Tony Abbott is disappointed by the failure to choose Japan to build Australia’s new submarines, the only one he can blame is himself.
AAP/Ben Macmahon
Like oil and water, party politics and good defence policy are presumed not to mix. And the process to buy Australia’s next fleet of submarines has been all about party politics.
DCNS’ ‘Shortfin Barracuda’ was the winning design for Australia’s next submarine fleet.
AAP/DCNS Group
The Conversation’s experts respond to key aspects of the announcement that French company DCNS will be build Australia’s next fleet of submarines.
Japan is believed to be winning the race to build Australia’s new submarine fleet.
EPA/Franck Robichon
The principal consequence of Australia’s inevitable but little-debated decision to acquire submarines is to contribute to a rapidly escalating regional arms race.
The new defence white paper marks a return to seriousness in its approach to spending.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Australia’s security bears no relation to whether we meet the target of raising defence spending to 2% of GDP.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull presents the defence white paper at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
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The Turnbull government’s defence white paper identifies key risks to Australia’s security environment in the next two decades.
Defence Minister Marise Payne is still to announce who will build Australia’s next generation of submarines.
AAP/Ben Macmahon
The defence white paper is silent on where Australia’s new fleet of 12 submarines will be acquired.