ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC)
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Founded in 1966, the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre is proud to be counted among the earliest generation of post-World War II research institutions dedicated to the analysis of the use of armed force in its political context. The Centre seeks to build upon our achievements over the past half century, and to play a leading role in shaping international strategic studies, policies and debates. Within the next decade, SDSC aims to position itself as the leading university-based institution for research, education, and outreach in strategic and defence issues in the Asia-Pacific region. In a fluid and fast-changing strategic milieu, we will invest in the strategic development of our research and teaching programs in order to play a leading role in defining Strategic Studies for our age. Our goal is to shape the areas of scholarship and policy-making which will inform the leadership of the Asia Pacific, and equip strategic planners and analysts to be bold and innovative in addressing the challenges of the future.
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Item Open Access The civil infrastructure in the defence of Australia: a regional approach(Canberra : Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1983., 1983) Langtry, John OsborneThe author argues that the civilian community and its resources will have to be involved in any Australian defence contingency; that planning for national security should intimately involve the community at regional levels; and that national development and national security are indivisible and, hence, planning for both should proceed hand-in-hand. To illustrate his propositions, the author reviews Australia's defence posture in the context of developments in the civil infrastructure in selected regions - North Queensland, Northern Territory, and the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia.Item Open Access China and the contending barbarians: Beijing's view of the contemporary world order(Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 20/09/1981) McMillen, Donald H.The question of how the present leadership in the People's Republic of China views the international order is crucial to our understanding of Beijing's approach to world problems as well as its defence and security postures. In Beijing's assessment of the strategic balance, the 'distant superpower', the United States, is a waning (albeit still formidable) world power, while the 'near superpower', the recently expansionist-minded Soviet Union, is regarded as the most immediate threat to China in particular and to world peace and stability in general. This paper, which is based upon an article by the author which was published in World Review, Volume 20, Number 4 (October 1981), explores the Chinese assessment in light of recent events and discusses the strategies or postures that have been devised as correlates to it, including the 'broad united front' with the United States. It also identifies some of the resources that China can presently bring to bear in the international arena, as well as some of those factors which may limit China's activities or objectives.Item Open Access China's new economic and strategic uncertainties, and the security prospects(Strategic and Defences Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1989-09) Gelber, Harry G.This paper surveys the implementation of China's 'four modernisations' program during the past decade, when the country's leadership took advantage of a period of comparative stability and detente to develop a broader economic and technological base. It describes the achievements of the program so far and its problems, both internal difficulties resulting from local conditions and problems associated generally with international economic growth and competition. The paper points to tension between the requirements of Party bureaucratic control and the demands of modernisation for economic innovation and political liberalisation, discussing the events of May-July 1989 in these terms. It also points to a new and different economic future world-wide, with the tempo and scale of development posing increasing difficulty in information and investment control. Finally, the paper discusses changes in the strategic balance resulting from national and international economic developments, in particular the emerging role of China as a middle power between the USSR and the US.Item Open Access Civil-military relations in Australia: the case of officer education, 1965-1980(Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1983) Kronenberg, V.J.; Smith, HughArrangements for the provision of degree-level tertiary education for officer cadets have been under active review in Australia since the early 1960s. The government's decision of 1976-78 to establish a single tri-service academy as an autonomous university were reviewed by a parliamentary committee during 1978-79. That committee's recommendation against proceeding with the government's proposal followed extensive public debate involving four discrete groups. The roles taken by these groups and the issues raised in the debate are used to describe the current state of civil-military relations. In the event the government rejected the findings of the parliamentary committee. We conclude that this case reaffirms the trend toward centralization of authority within the Department of Defence, which has been the major issue-area of civil-military relations in Australia.Item Open Access Blueprint for a catastrophe: conducting oil diplomacy by 'other means' in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf(Australian National University. Research School of Pacific Studies. The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 1979-08) Ayoob, MohammedItem Open Access A new aircraft carrier for the Royal Australian Navy?(Canberra : Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1982) Brown, Gary; Woolner, DerekThe Australian Government's decision to acquire a new aircraft carrier is critically analysed in strategic, operational and financial terms. The paper concludes that the strategic justification offered is "not proven", that the operational characteristics of available contenders do not satisfy assessed requirements and that the Australian defence budget cannot support both planned outlays and carrier associated costs. A comprehensive re-assessment of naval force structure is recommended.Item Open Access Australia and the Republic of Korea: still allies or just good friends?(Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1984-09) Selth, AndrewAustralia's participation in the Korean War of 1950-1953 had more to do with domestic factors and wider international considerations, than with any feelings of affinity with the Korean people. Circumstances have greatly changed since then, but some remnants of that military involvement still survive in the form of the United Nations Command (UNC) and the Sixteen Nation Declaration of 1953. While tensions between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea remain high, the possibility of the UNC becoming involved in a fresh outbreak of hostilities will always remain. Prime Minister Bob Hawke has clearly stated that Australian security interests are not directly engaged in the Korean peninsula, but considering the growth in Australia's bilateral relationship with the Republic of Korea s{nce the war and the alliances both countries now share with the United States, Australia would face a difficult decision should there be another security crisis in Kore a, and Australian assistance once again be sought.Item Open Access Arms Flow into the Gulf: Process of Buying Security(Research School of Pacific Studies, the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 1982-03) SredharWhat are the threat perceptions of the 'Gulf Countries', and how capable are the armed forces of these countries to deal with them? While answering these questions, the author establishes that there is no correlation between the perceived threats and the type of arms being acquired by these countries. the sales policies of the arms manufacturing countries indicate that they wanted to quire a certain amount of leverage by selling the most advanced equipment in the Gulf. The Gulf countries, on the other hand, see such sophisticated arms purchases as the best method of involving the super powers and their allies in protecting their security interests.Item Open Access American bases: some implications for Australian security(Canberra : Australian National University, Research School of Pacific Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 1978) Ball, DesmondItem Open Access Aggression and annexation: Kampuchea's condemnation of Vietnam(Canberra : Australian National University, Research School of Pacific Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre,, 1979) Osborne, Milton E.Item Open Access Simple solutions to complex matters' : identifying fundamental principles of alternative dispute resolution in the multinational effort to broker a resolution to the Bougainville 'Crisis'(Canberra : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2009, 2009) Bowd, Reuben R. E.Item Open Access Australia's nation-building : an assessment of its contribution to regional security in the Pacific, and a new policy to guide its future(Canberra : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2009, 2009) Shephard, MarkItem Open Access Keeping our yellowcake peaceful : a policy framework for uranium exports(Canberra : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, 2009, 2009) Huisken, RonItem Open Access Strategic realignment or deja vu? : Russia-Indonesia defence cooperation in the twenty-first century(Canberra, : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 2008, 2008) Muraviev, Alexey D.Item Open Access Globalising the INF treaty : the best way to inhibit the proliferation of long-range missiles?(Canberra, : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2008, 2008) Huisken, RonItem Open Access Southeast Asia : major power playground or finishing school?(Canberra : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, 2008, 2008) Huisken, RonThrough the ASEAN Summit processes and the ASEAN Regional Forum, followed later in the 1990's by the ASEAN Plus Three, and, most recently, the East Asia Summit, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has sustained a near monopoly on pan-Asian multilateral processes. To get some perspective on the circumstances that have made this possible, and to provide a basis for assessing its real effectiveness, it is useful to look at how the United States, Japan and China relate to Southeast Asia and at what these postures suggest about the aspirations these states may have for the region. In short, it seems to me that the risk is very real that ASEAN will find that it lacks the muscle to pull off its experiment in geopolitical fine-tuning. ASEAN will need help, ideally in the form of a forum in which the major powers are in the driver's seat, accept responsibility and try to devise a trajectory toward a stable accommodation in the management of East Asia's development.Item Open Access The future balance of power in East Asia : what are the geopolitical risks?(Canberra, A.C.T. : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, 2008, 2008) Dibb, PaulItem Open Access Dien Bien Phu, and the defence of Australia(Canberra : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2007, 2007) Stephens, AlanItem Open Access The domain in which we dwell : the foundations, form and future of land warfare(Canberra, A.C.T. : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2007, 2007) Stockings, CraigItem Open Access The defence diarchy : a case study on its abolition in New Zealand(Canberra,, A.C.T. : Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, 2007, 2007) Quigley, Derek