‘The truth is rarely pure and never simple’ The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde Urban warfare literature is a child of the ‘90s. Before then, it was a few lonely monographs considering how best to defend towns in the path of the Soviet juggernaut rolling across the plains of northern Europe. Even these orphan papers were easy to dismiss. Soviet doctrine emphasised the bypassing of urban areas, so Western imaginations could remain captured by visions of massive tank battles and deep penetration …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 5/21 . Military Modernisation in Southeast Asia in the Indo-Pacific Strategic Context Defense and Security Analysis – May 21 In this article, Shang-su Wu seeks to explain the relationship between the Indo-Pacific security system and the military modernisation in South-East Asia. While seemingly self-evident, Wu finds this relationship is much more complicated due to the differing national security priorities of each nation, ranging from great …

An Australian Approach In recent years, we have seen a substantial rise in measures undertaken by foreign state actors that could be considered foreign interference . There has also been a notable increase in online activity that is labelled as coordinated inauthentic behaviour . Both of these trends have led to the gradual adoption of the terms like Cyber-Enabled Foreign Influence and Interference (C-E FI/I) in Australia’s academic and security community lexicon. Such terms seeks to remove the ambiguity …

Understanding ourselves before we pursue PME ‘ Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel ’ - Socrates There is a necessary drive for junior military leaders to engage in professional military education (PME). However, the current pandemic has emphasised the value that military leaders place in this system of education. Despite this, there has been limited discussion to address the factors that can inhibit the value of PME. In my experience, PME is often conducted by junior leaders …

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know By Erica Chenoweth New York, NY: Oxford University Press , 2021, 256pp. Reviewed by MAJ Andrew Maher During the 2014-2017 war against the Islamic State, everyday citizens in Iraq and Syria non-violently resisted the imposition of strict Sharia law and Islamic State control. Such resistance was most poignantly brought to global attention by the citizen journalism group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently , (RBSS) which continues its work today. This group was …

The question is not whether the future of warfare will be filled with autonomous, AI-driven robots, but when and in what form. [1] Robotic and autonomous systems, colloquially known as RAS, offer significant potential in the joint force logistic effort that extends from the national support base along lines of communication to frontline use. Industry has been employing automation and autonomy for some time, yet Australian Defence Force (ADF) adoption of such technologies has been evolutionary and somewhat …

The mid 20th century definition of ‘jointery’ used by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is increasingly anachronistic. It no longer matches the ADF’s recent operational experience or its anticipated future requirements. Warfare in the 21st century demands that Australia’s defence capabilities—and therefore the joint force—expand to cover two relatively new domains: information and cyber, and space. Much of Australia’s core expertise and capability in these new domains lies outside the ADF. This challenges …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 3/21 . Ansar Al-Sunna Mozambique: Is It the Boko Haram of Southern Africa? Journal of Applied Security Research – Feb 21 Australia’s national security attention rightly often focuses to the north. Increasingly, our use of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ to describe of region of interest requires greater awareness of the Indian Ocean region and security concerns within and around it. This includes awareness of Africa, where Great Power competition is playing …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 3/21 . Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies in the Israel Defence Forces: blurring traditional boundaries Journal of Strategic Studies – Dec 20 While there are significant differences between Israel and Australia’s geo-strategic situation, some points of comparison exist between the IDF and the ADF. Both focus on technological superiority to make up for a lack of mass, operate in a constantly contested space to shape future conflicts, and …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 3/21 . Using design thinking to cultivate the next generation of female STEAM thinkers International Journal of STEM Education – Mar 21 Women only make up about 17% of all STEM qualified people in Australia. It is even less within engineering and professorial areas. Nor is the Australian Army an exemplar of women in STEM, as of 01 Apr 21 across our three technical Corps and all officers and soldiers, only 6.8% are women. [1] While this is an …