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Asia-Pacific

Coverage of Indo-Pacific security, South China Sea disputes, Taiwan contingencies, and the strategic dynamics of ASEAN, Australia, Japan, and Korea.

The Cave and the Crown: What Made Xi Jinping

The Cave and the Crown: What Made Xi Jinping

The most powerful Chinese leader since Mao was forged not by privilege but by persecution. His seven years in a cave village during the Cultural Revolution—and the destruction of his family—created a ruler who fears the Party's weakness more than its strength.

China's Silo Fields and the End of Nuclear Primacy

China's Silo Fields and the End of Nuclear Primacy

Beijing's 250 new missile silos near Mongolia have accomplished their strategic purpose before a single warhead launches: demonstrating that China cannot be disarmed. The era of American nuclear primacy has ended, and no treaty framework exists to manage what comes next.

The Highway Through Paradise: How Drug Trafficking Is Remaking the Pacific

The Highway Through Paradise: How Drug Trafficking Is Remaking the Pacific

International drug cartels have transformed Pacific Island nations from transit points into consumption markets. As methamphetamine flows through ancient kinship networks and overwhelms fragile institutions, communities face threats their governments cannot defeat alone.

When the Taps Run Dry: The Cascading Consequences of Water Infrastructure Failure in Australia

When the Taps Run Dry: The Cascading Consequences of Water Infrastructure Failure in Australia

Australia's water and sewerage systems serve millions through infrastructure so reliable it has become invisible. That invisibility masks profound vulnerability—to cyber attack, climate stress, and institutional neglect. When disruption comes, its consequences will cascade far beyond burst pipes.

When the Signal Dies: Australia's Telecommunications Fragility and the Cascading Consequences of Infrastructure Failure

When the Signal Dies: Australia's Telecommunications Fragility and the Cascading Consequences of Infrastructure Failure

The 2023 Optus outage severed ten million Australians from banking, healthcare, and emergency services for twelve hours. The 2025 failure allegedly killed two people. These were accidents. The next major disruption might not be—and Australia remains structurally unprepared for either.

When the Grid Goes Dark: The Cascading Consequences of Australia's Electricity Vulnerability

Energy & Climate

When the Grid Goes Dark: The Cascading Consequences of Australia's Electricity Vulnerability

Australia's electricity grid faces compounding threats from cyber attacks, extreme weather, and accelerating coal closures. The consequences of major disruption cascade through three orders of magnitude—from immediate infrastructure failure to civilisational transformation. Current planning...

The Wires Beneath the Waves: Tech Giants and Pacific Sovereignty

The Wires Beneath the Waves: Tech Giants and Pacific Sovereignty

Google and its peers are laying cables to connect the Pacific's most isolated nations. The infrastructure brings genuine benefits—and dependencies that look increasingly like digital feudalism. For island governments that cannot maintain what they do not understand, the gift may cost more than...

The Decibel Countdown: China's Submarine Weakness and the Taiwan Window

The Decibel Countdown: China's Submarine Weakness and the Taiwan Window

Chinese submarines remain dangerously loud—detectable by sensors designed to exploit their acoustic signatures. As allied underwater surveillance networks mature faster than Chinese quieting technology improves, Beijing faces a narrowing window where undersea weakness constrains Taiwan options....

The Deterrent That Became a Target

The Deterrent That Became a Target

China's missile arsenal can now threaten every American base in the Western Pacific. The forces meant to prevent war may instead invite the opening salvo of one. Washington faces choices it has spent decades avoiding.

The Wires Beneath the Waves: How Submarine Cables Became the Pacific's Contested Terrain

The Wires Beneath the Waves: How Submarine Cables Became the Pacific's Contested Terrain

Taiwan experiences seven to eight cable breaks annually, most linked to China. The pattern reveals how submarine cables have transformed from neutral infrastructure into strategic terrain where great powers contest the physical substrate of the digital world.

The Fragile Thread: Australia's Pacific Communications in a Taiwan Crisis

The Fragile Thread: Australia's Pacific Communications in a Taiwan Crisis

Ninety-seven percent of Pacific data flows through cables China could sever in hours. Australia's island partnerships depend on infrastructure designed for peacetime efficiency, not wartime resilience. The window to build redundancy is closing faster than procurement timelines assume.

When Templates Trump Threats: Australia's Security Blind Spot

When Templates Trump Threats: Australia's Security Blind Spot

The Bondi Beach attack exposed a structural flaw in Australia's counter-terrorism architecture. When threat reality contradicts institutional templates, the system optimizes for legibility over security—with consequences that extend far beyond a single incident.