The Straits Times
29 February 2016
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Positive Signal to Southeast Asia
Positive Signal to Southeast Asia
The Australian government released its Defence White Paper last Thursday in the midst of shifting geopolitics in the Asia- Pacific and rising concerns over terrorist attacks on Australian soil.
This version provides an update to the previous White Paper published in 2013. The latest Defence White Paper frames Australia’s long-term strategic outlook within the rising tensions in the South China Sea and growing non-traditional security risks relating to climate change, terrorism, border security and cyber security.
This White Paper emphasises the United States-Australian strategic alliance as a key driver determining Australia’s security milieu to 2035. Therefore, much focus has been on how well Australia’s military planning for the next two decades responds to the reality of US-China cooperation and competition in the Asia-Pacific.
… The writer is a research fellow with the Military Studies Programme, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.
IDSS / Print / Online
