Defending Australia: Australian Foreign Affairs Issue 4

Description

Australian Foreign Affairs is published three times a year and seeks to explore - and encourage - debate on Australia's place in the world and global outlook. "Whether we like it or not, the challenge of defending Australia will become much harder in the twenty-first century. We are no longer a strategic backwater." MICHAEL WESLEY The fourth issue of Australian Foreign Affairs examines the challenge of defending Australia at a time of regional uncertainty and rapidly developing military technology. It explores whether the nation's weaponry, intelligence agencies and handling of alliances and diplomacy are up to the task of securing against new vulnerabilities in a fast-changing Asia. Michael Wesley examines the state of Australia's security as Asia's power balance shifts. Patrick Walters probes the overhaul of Australia's expanding intelligence agencies. John Birmingham analyses Australia's weapons capabilities as the military expands its reach. Stephan Fru hling explores Australia's options for developing nuclear weapons to protect its maritime approaches. Jane Perlez discusses the West's misjudgement of Xi Jinping, China's leader for life. Matthew Thompson examines Rodrigo Duterte's murderous rule in the Philippines. Tess Newton Cain reports on mining in the Pacific region. PLUS Correspondence from Philips Vermonte, John McCarthy, Andrew MacIntyre and more.

Australian Foreign Affairs is a new periodical brought to you by the publishers of Black Inc. and Quarterly Essay. It will be published three times a year, in February, July and October. The world is changing, and so is Australia's place in it. A large number of general readers are fascinated by the dynamics of a rising China and a disengaging United States, in a world that is arguably less stable than at any time since World War II. AFA will make foreign affairs available and accessible to a large audience, in the way that Quarterly Essay makes serious politics popular. Australian Foreign Affairs will encourage debate and will be open to divergent views. Its style and presentation will be clear, succinct and free of jargon. Its readers will need no other qualification than an interest in significant foreign developments affecting Australia and the region and a curiosity about the possible outcomes and responses. Australian Foreign Affairs will feature four to five long-form in-depth articles by our best thinkers, as well as reviews and correspondence. Each issue will focus on a particular theme. Articles will be topical and wide-ranging, and often challenge conventional wisdom.