AUSMIN (Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations) – what is it, how did it come about and why is it important?

Ahead of next week’s meeting on 6 August in the United States between Australia’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence and the US Secretaries of State and Defense, this week’s episode of Stop the World is a special explainer.

ASPI’s own former AUSMIN attendees, Executive Director, Justin Bassi, and Director of Strategic Communications, David Wroe, reminisce about the annual AUSMIN meeting, its Cold War history and its ongoing significance for the Australia-US relationship, how it has evolved over time, and what you need to know ahead of next week's 34th meeting.

The episode features reflections from the Hon Kim Beazley AC, an AUSMIN founding member who attended the first five meetings as Minister for Defence before returning to the table as Ambassador, and Marise Payne, one of only two people to have attended AUSMIN as both Foreign and Defence minister throughout six meetings. They provide behind-the-scenes insights into why AUSMIN formed, what the meetings were like, the benefits of AUSMIN for both countries and some of the most significant moments across AUSMIN’s history.

For anyone interested in understanding one of the key mechanisms in the US-Australia alliance, this is a useful primer to next week's meeting!

In today’s episode, senior analyst Dr Alex Bristow is joined by Professor Guibourg Delamotte, Professor of Political Science at the Japanese studies department of the French Institute of Oriental Studies and Yamagami Shingo, former Japanese Ambassador to Australia, who is also, among several roles, Senior Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

They discuss this week’s “blizzard of Indo-Pacific diplomacy”, which has included the Quad Foreign Minister’s meeting in Tokyo, a US-Japan 2+2, an ASEAN meeting in Laos, and a visit by Foreign Minister Penny Wong to several countries in Asia including South Korea, where she made strong remarks about North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia.

They also cover the prospect of Japan’s joining AUKUS Pillar Two, to collaborate on cutting-edge defence technologies.

It’s a fascinating recap on some of this week’s big events with two leading experts on Japan.

This week on the pod, David Wroe interviews Russia expert Mark Galeotti. Mark is a renowned author of many books, including ‘We Need to Talk About Putin’ and ‘Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, and the new fight for the future of Russia’, and host of the podcast ‘In Moscow’s Shadows’.

David asks Mark for an update on Russia’s war on Ukraine, whether time is on Ukraine or Russia’s side, the impacts of the war on Russia domestically and Putin’s hold on power. They also discuss the increase of Russia’s sabotage activities across Europe and the potential impacts of the US elections on Russia’s war on Ukraine. Mark is a true Russia expert and he’s full of insights that you’re unlikely to have heard elsewhere.

Guests:

David Wroe

Mark Galeotti

The countdown to the Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is on!

In the second episode of ASPI’s TSD Summit Sessions, Justin Bassi, Executive Director of ASPI, speaks to James Appathurai, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber on all things tech, innovation, security and democracy.

Justin and James discuss hybrid threats in the context of challenges in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and how democracies in both regions need to work together to prevent and respond to these increasing activities. They explore the impact of technological innovation on security, the rise of artificial intelligence and deep fakes and the risks to democracies, including in elections.

They discuss the challenges posed by Russia and China and how they are harnessing technology to achieve their goals. The conversation canvasses the need for a strategy of deterrence, not just in relation to conflict, but to counter threats below the threshold of war. Such a strategy will require some offence, not just defence, to protect both domestic democratic processes and the international rules-based order.

Note: This episode was recorded prior to the NATO Summit, which took place in Washington DC on 9-11 July.

Guests:

Justin Bassi

James Appathurai

The Sydney Dialogue Summit Sessions are back!

Today on Stop the World, we are relaunching our special series – The Sydney Dialogue Summit Sessions. To kick off the series, Alex Caples, Director of ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue, speaks to Brendan Dowling, Australia’s Cyber Affairs and Critical Technologies Ambassador.

This conversation covers all things cyber and offers a preview of some of the topics to be explored in Sydney in September. Alex and Brendan discuss the importance of security by design, regional security and the cybersecurity threats our region is facing, and the opportunities the digital transition provides the clean energy transition.

The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) is ASPI’s flagship initiative on cyber and critical technologies. The summit brings together world leaders, global technology industry innovators and leading thinkers on cyber and critical technology for frank and productive discussions. TSD 2024 will address the advances made across these technologies and their impact on our societies, economies and national security.

Find out more about TSD 2024 here: https://tsd.aspi.org.au/

Guests:

Dr Alexandra Caples
Brendan Dowling

In a special episode of Stop the World, ASPI’s Executive Director, Justin Bassi, speaks with Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and former leader of the Labor Party, Bill Shorten, about his recent attendance as Australia’s representative to Switzerland’s Summit on Peace in Ukraine.

The Minister outlined why what happens in Ukraine matters to Australia and our region, and how it will be important for countries to not only support Ukraine during the conflict, but also with its recovery and reconstruction post-war. They also discuss the impact of the war on people with disabilities, the importance of assistive technologies and how Australia can help.

Guests:

Justin Bassi

Bill Shorten

In this episode of Stop the World, we bring you the final interview from our special series recorded from the sidelines of the ASPI Defence Conference ‘JoiningFORCES’. And today it’s all about AUKUS.

ASPI's Director of The Sydney Dialogue, Dr. Alex Caples, is joined by Sophia Gaston, Head of Foreign Policy at Policy Exchange, and Eric Chewning, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development at HII.

Alex, Sophia and Eric reflect on the progress that has been made on AUKUS, the role of industry in ensuring AUKUS succeeds, and the ongoing challenges such as workforce. The conversation also focuses on political and public support for AUKUS, which has been made even more timely by this week's UK election, and the looming presidential and congressional elections in the United States.

Mentioned in this episode: The AUKUS goal: balancing power in the region, by Justin Bassi

Guests:

Alex Caples

Sophia Gaston

Eric Chewning

In this episode of Stop the World, we bring you the penultimate episode in our special series recorded from the sidelines of the ASPI Defence Conference ‘JoiningFORCES’.

This interview is all about Japan and regional security. Dr Euan Graham, Senior ASPI Analyst speaks with Narushige Michishita, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo and Japan Scholar with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Program. The conversation covers Japan’s perspective on the strategic outlook in the Indo-Pacific, the role of the US-Japan alliance and the evolution of the Australia-Japan relationship. Euan and Michishita also discuss Japan’s major investments in defence, including a promise to increase defence funding by 60 percent, and opportunities to increase regional cooperation on security, including through AUKUS.

Note: This episode was recorded on the sidelines of the conference, so please forgive the less than perfect audio quality.

Guests:

Euan Graham

Narushige Michishita