The content in this article is an extract of Spotlight Brief 4/21 . Myths and misconceptions in the debate on Russia Chatham House – May 21 The West’s relationship with Russia has failed to achieve long-term stability or manageability. This article highlights that over the past two decades, several myths about Russia and its policies and objectives have undermined how nations including Australia have approached Russia. While Australia rightfully focuses on its own region, supporting other Western nations …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 4/21 . Cyber Security Governance in the Indo-Pacific Policy Futures in Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific The University of Queensland – May 21 A regional team of experts review the strengths and weaknesses in regional cyber security governance for Australia, Indonesia and Pacific Island nations. They chart new approaches for Australian cooperation with regional partners on cyber security. While there are lessons that Indonesia and Pacific …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 3/21 . From transformation to adaptation: analysing the Spanish military change (2004–2020) Defence Studies – Nov 20 It is often easier to see positives and negatives from outside a changing environment as opposed to while living it. The Spanish military offers such an example for Australia, having pursued similar modernisation and transformation. While the drivers were different, the push to a modern, networked hardened Army in the 2000s and …

Spotlight Briefs provide a curated overview of issues relevant to Australian Landpower. They derive solely from available open source material. Importantly, inclusion of material in a Spotlight Brief does not imply or reflect Australian Army, Australian Defence Force or Australian Commonwealth Government policy. The brief will be published monthly on the Australian Army’s Landpower Forum .   The Australian Army Research Centre welcomes feedback on all publications. If you have a comment, or would like to …

A strategic leadership theory of military effectiveness: General Matthew Ridgway and the revival of the US Eighth Army in the Korean War Source: Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies – Dec 20 Strategic leadership is critical to a military, but is a concept that can be difficult to grasp or define. An increase in tactical focus takes attention from understanding the role of strategy and the key elements that make up such strategic leadership. Meiser uses three building blocks – strategy, …

A Note from the Editors Spotlight Briefs provide a curated overview of issues relevant to Australian Landpower. They derive solely from available open source material. Importantly, inclusion of material in a Spotlight Brief does not imply or reflect Australian Army, Australian Defence Force or Australian Commonwealth Government policy.  Additionally, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight another new publication. The AARC has worked with the RAND Corporation Australia to deliver a report which …

Future Land Warfare Division’s MakerSpace program is quietly creating the foundations for a new generation of creative Army thinkers, ready to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain security environment.  In this Land Power Forum (LPF) update, we review the program’s objectives and progress over its first 12 months. A recurring theme in commentary submitted to the LPF is the necessity to break the shackles of conventional military thinking.  Whether we are capability specialists, …

Tactics, Training and Operations in North Africa 1940-1942 By James Colvin Helion and Company Limited, Warwick, 2020. 261pp. Reviewed by Brigadier Chris Roberts, AM,CSC (Rtd) In this splendid and thoroughly engaging book, James Colvin—a former member of the British Territorial Army's 44th Parachute Brigade—provides a penetrating insight into the British Eighth Army's performance against the German and Italian forces during the North African desert war.  It spans the period from General O'Connor's highly …

By Thomas Waldman Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press, 2021, 320 pages) Reviewed by Major Andrew Maher Thomas Waldman’s Vicarious Warfare: American Strategy and the Illusion of War on the Cheap , unpacks America’s contemporary employment of military force in conflicts worldwide. On the basis of his analysis, Waldman argues that an operational concept exists, called “vicarious warfare,” which he asserts is a manifestation of a political desire to limit the costs of waging war – financial, political, and …

‘Observing how our past appeared when it was the future can help us understand why events occurred as they did, how individuals became prisoners of their experiences and missed what was blindingly obvious to later generations, and occasionally saw what was coming, only to be dismissed by their contemporaries. In short, the future of war has a distinctive and revealing past.’ Lawrence Freedman [1] History is an assessment of events from the past retold in the present. History is often biased; it is both …