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The lead article in this edition of the ADF Journal, by Brigadier Dan Fortune on 'Self-reliance: an outdated and unaffordable concept for the ADF', was judged the 'best article' in this issue. Also, in this issue, Major Kathryn Ames addresses the contemporary influence of social media on Defence,…

In this issue of the ADF Journal, Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Beng of the Singapore Armed Forces provides a useful account of submarine developments in Southeast Asia, Chris Brookes addresses Japan's future strategic policy and its implications for Australia, and Rachel Mourad examines the lessons to…

This 2014 issue of the ADF Journal begins with an address by the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin. He addresses his vision for the ADF and some of the challenges and opportunities he foresees for the ADF in the context of the 2015 Defence White Paper, the downing of MH-17…

This issue of the ADF Journal includes articles submitted by contributors from each of the Services and the Australian Public Service, as well as students of the Australian Command and Staff College and the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies. The '…

This issue of the ADF Journal is the first in its “new-look format” and see it return to publication in both electronic and hard copy. It features two articles on cyber security in the ADF, as well as a articles on a wide range of topics. The Board selected the article by Sub Lieutenants Nick…

In this first issue of the Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies (AJDSS), we present the inaugural J.G. Grey Oration delivered by Dean Eliot A. Cohen of Johns Hopkins University at the Strategy and Future of War Conference held in Canberra on 21 August 2019. Major General Mick Ryan,…

In this issue, Bates Gill, Adam Ni and Dennis Blasko lead off with a broad overview of the People's Liberation Army's ambitious structural reforms and modernisation program to develop a highly joint 'world-class military' by mid-century. This article leads to Ross Babbage's challenging discussion…

Against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, changing power dynamics in our region, and reflections on 20 years supporting US and coalition efforts to establish stability and peace in Afghanistan, this fourth edition of the Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies (AJDSS) brings…

This issue presents Michael Clarke's 'What type of revisionist is China (and why it matters)?' His paper provides insight into how China's position has shifted over the past 70 years and informs how we might better perceive (and respond to) contemporary Chinese rhetoric and foreign policy. In the…

This issue starts by paying tribute to Brendan Sergeant and republishing his 2021 discussion paper, 'Challenges to the Australian strategic imagination', with an introduction from Greg Moriarty, Secretary of the Department of Defence. The AJDSS team are grateful for the support of Brendan's wife,…

This issue of the AJDSS considers questions of continuity and change in war through to challenges and opportunities for Australia and what conventional deterrence means in the Australian context. The issue starts with Professor Beatrice Heuser JG Grey Oration, delivered at the Blamey Theatre at…

This report is the outcome of the study conducted by Elizabeth A Thomson as the 2013 Secretary of Defence Fellow. Battling with words report takes a distinctive sociolinguistic approach to current efforts by Defence leadership to bring about cultural change in the Department of Defence and…

This paper examines the dispute between China and India over their shared Himalayan border. It assesses that the likelihood of a major Sino-Indian conflict over the border is remote, notwithstanding the ever-present possibility of limited skirmishes and territorial forays. It argues that there are…

This paper examines Australia's involvement and responsibilities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, in the context that both have increasingly become areas of interest to Australia as a result of a number of environmental and socio-political drivers, notably climate change, resource exploitation…

While terrorism and specifically the Islamic State are dominating the national security agenda at the moment, this paper contends that cyber security is still an important issue for the Australian Government. The issue can be articulated both in terms of the economic costs and personal impacts that…

This paper addresses Australia's 'Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme' (PSWPS)—since replaced by the 'Seasonal Worker Scheme'—a program intended to provide seasonal employment in the horticultural sector for workers from Pacific island countries. One of those countries is Tonga, which was one of…

This issue of Indo‑Pacific Strategic Digest is a collection of the best student essays of 2015 from the senior professional development and education program of the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, Australian Defence College. The papers were…

This paper explores Prime Minister Abe's new international agenda, examining how it is changing Japan's strategic posture within the Japan-US alliance, and assessing its implications for regional security. The paper looks at Abe the individual, his political ideas and how his vision for Japan is…

This is a story of grassroots leadership and Nick Jans' personal experience in a process in which a group of ordinary citizens, with no formal authority whatsoever and operating within a stunned, fractured and dispersed community, achieved some remarkable things in the months that followed the '…

The paper addresses the complex and usually volatile issue of separatist movements in nation‐states, examining the options other than war or independence. It explores the origin and function of the nation‐state as it operates in the current international system. It then discusses the range of…

The objective of this paper by Brigadier Nicholas Jans is to review the scholarly literature to ascertain how leadership can play its part in strengthening support for inclusion in military organisations. The review reaches four related conclusions. Firstly, support for inclusion is simply one of…

What do chaplains do? What is their role and their effectiveness? When asked about chaplaincy, many Defence leaders reply something like, 'I don't know what they do, but whatever they do seems to work'. For some people outside Defence, and maybe even inside, 'the clerical collar suggests an…

This paper analyses Russia's security influence in Northeast Asia. It notes that while Russia's security influence in the region declined considerably in the post‐Cold War era, its membership of the UN Security Council still provides it with considerable influence and opportunity to frustrate the…

This paper examines the relationship between South Korea and Japan. It asserts that while there should be strong grounds for a close bilateral relationship, there are underlying tensions as a result of historical legacies, their longstanding territorial dispute, and continuing uncertainties posed…

This paper analyses some of the key political and strategic dynamics of Bougainville's promised referendum, due to be held between 2015 and 2020. It identifies a number of significant risks, primarily located in the period before and after the vote. These are connected to likely frustrations should…

As early as 1923, it was suggested that journalism held the key to popular support for service personnel in war and in peace. Today, this is still true, with often a torrent of information—almost akin to what has been called the 'super‐saturation' of information, images and issues—about defence…

This paper examines whether and to what extent the UK's armed forces should again be prepared to operate east of Suez. The Wilson's Government's 1967 declaration of withdrawal from Singapore and Malaysia arguably signalled the end of Britain's role in the Far East and prompted claims of abandonment…

This paper addresses the proposed referendum in relation to the future of Bougainville, which was agreed—as part of the 2001 Bougainville peace agreement—would be held between 2015 and 2020. It uses the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's 'Security System Reform framework' to…

This paper analyses the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It contends that the PRC's national focus on economic growth has translated into a deliberate, 'geopolitical stability' strategy to maintain the status quo of a…

This paper by Group Captain Stephen Meredith examines the challenges likely to be faced by a reunified Korean peninsula. It does not speculate on how such reunification might eventuate, other than noting that the commonly‐discussed scenarios range from military conflict through to peaceful…