Edition 4, 18 October 2017

STRATEGICCAPITAL

Newsletter of the

Strategic & Defence Studies Centre Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs

Clark Davis Ivins EndowmentThe Clark Davis Ivins Memorial Endowment, which commemoratesthe legacy of Private Ivins, has expanded to include student travelgrants. The travel grants which will be awarded from 2018 toInternational Security Studies students studying at the Coral BellSchool of Asia Pacific Affairs seek to enhance student academicdevelopment and future professional contributions to the Asia Pacificregion. Private Ivins died of wounds received at the Battle of MilneBay in Papua New Guinea in 1942. Professor David Horner led acommemorative SDSC War Studies Seminar acknowledging the 75thAnniversary of the Battle of Milne Bay.

» read more Message from the Head of the Department This is the fourth e-newsletter intended as a periodic offering from theStrategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australia’s leading university-basedthink tank. This is a busy time in the academic calendar with students fromour three degree programs busily completing their assignments and exams.Students in the Masters of Defence Studies Program at the AustralianCommand and Staff College have just completed their final universitymodule on Australian Defence and Foreign Policy. Our Masters of StrategicStudies students are gearing up for completion or for commencement ofadvanced research projects and our Bachelor of International SecurityStudies students face exams in the next couple of weeks. With all of thisgoing on, SDSC still maintains its focus on conducting policy relevantresearch which we hope will be of use to our readers. Here is a sampling ofour latest work. This is intended as a community service and we welcome allconstructive feedback to john.blaxland@anu.edu.au

Professor John Blaxland, Head SDSC

Speeches75th Anniversary of the Battleof Milne Bay - Emeritus Prof.David Horner » read

SDSC in the mediaDr. Joanne Wallis: DoAustralia’s interests match itsinfluence in the Pacific Islands?

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Prof. John Blaxland: MyanmarRohingya crisis: Australia needsto stand up and help as thesituation worsens

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Ballistic missile defence: Newoptions for Australia

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Dr. Jean Bou: A myth exploded

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Emertius Prof. Paul DibbKorean nuclear crisis: tell KimJong Un we mean business

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Sam Roggeveen: China,America and the ThucydidesTrap: An interview with GrahamAllison

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Prof. Bates Gill: PacNet #69 -Strategic opportunity lost?:Where is the White House onSoutheast Asia?

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PodcastsSoldiers not Citizens:Indigenous service in theAustralian Defence Forces1899-2017 - Joan Beaumont »listen

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More stories SDSC Staff & Student AccoladesDr. Amy King has been awarded the 2017 Paul Bourke Award for EarlyCareer Research by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. PhDcandidate Deborah Jeppesen has been awarded the Royal UnitedServices Institute of Australia Leo Mahoney Bursary for her research on thebehavior of Australian Defence Force personnel in training, advisory, andassistance roles. Further, Dr. Stephan Frühling has been nominated for theContemporary Security Policy Bernard Brodie Prize for his journal articlewith Andrew O’Neil analysing US alliances regarding nuclear weapons.

Featured Publications The Economics-Security Nexus Under Trump and Xi: PolicyImplications for Asia-Pacific CountriesVictoria University of Wellington Professor Robert Ayson argues thatrather than anticipating an all-or-nothing choice between security interestswith the US and economic interests with China, many Asia-Pacific countrieshave been making smaller choices to work with both great powers toencourage a regional equilibrium. Whilst China has been using economicpressure unilaterally and competitively to advance its own security agendain the region, recent North Korean provocations have encouraged somecooperation between China and the US. Consequently, small and mediumAsia-Pacific countries might deepen their bilateral and plurilateralcollaboration to reduce their exposure to the fluctuation of messages fromboth countries in a Trump-Xi era.» read more Sovereign Defence Industry Capabilities, Independent Operations andthe Future of Australian Defence StrategyAssociate Professor Stephen Frühling highlights that sovereignty in thedefence industry is not absolute, but must be a balancing act betweeneffectiveness, cost, and reliance on allies. Reference to existing literaturehighlights that Australian concerns of not being able to rely on support fromUS combat forces in regional conflict post-Vietnam War has pushed a logicof defence self-reliance. As a result, the 2016 Defence White Paper is nowframing Australian policy in terms of the ability to conduct independentoperations, which are an important way of securing our interests in conflictswhere we fight alongside the United States. Policy recommendations citethe loss of security from distance means we need to consider battle damageto Australian infrastructure and industry itself. Ensuring access to ‘sovereigndefence industry’ capabilities may also require us to re-think arrangementsfor domestic base support.» read more Beyond the Buzzword: The Three Meanings of “Grand Strategy”Dr. Nina Silove explores the questions of how to define grand strategy andwhether it “exists” continue to vex the study of grand strategy, despite theever-increasing popularity of the term. Whilst scholars broadly agree on thecharacteristics of grand strategy, the precise entity or phenomenon thatmanifests these characteristics is less clear, indicating deficiencies in themethods used by scholars to define and operationalize concepts. Thisarticle traces the intellectual history and contemporary usage of the conceptof grand strategy to identify the phenomenon or object to which the conceptrefers. This analysis demonstrates that there is no single concept of grandstrategy. Instead, there are three, which are labelled “grand plans,” “grandprinciples,” and “grand behavior,” respectively. Each concept provides adistinct, valuable framework for research and policy prescription.» read more

bipartisanship on securitymakes Australia less safe - Dr.Andrew Carr » listen

75th Anniversary of the Battleof Milne Bay - Emeritus Prof.David Horner » listen

Academic Profile

Dr. Jean Bou is a lecturer at theStrategic and Defence StudiesCentre where his teaching dutiesinclude lecturing at the AustralianCommand and Staff College andin the undergraduate program atANU. Dr. Bou attained his PhD inHistory from the University ofNew South Wales (at theAustralian Defence ForceAcademy) and is an operationalmilitary historian of the nineteenthand twentieth centuries.

Dr. Bou is the lead author ofVolume Four of the OfficialHistory of AustralianPeacekeeping, Humanitarian andPost-Cold War Operations duefor release early next year and iscurrently writing a book on theSyrian Campaign of 1941. Dr.Bou has previously been ahistorian with the Australian WarMemorial and a member of theAustralian Army History Unit.

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Mark the date25th October: Guarding thePeriphery: the Australian Army inPapua New Guinea, 1951-75 »read more

30th October: The Battle ofBeersheba - Myths andHistory,100 years on » read more

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The Strategic & Defence Studies Centre is Australia's oldest andlargest academic centre focused on strategic and defence issues. Ourexpertise within strategic studies consist of three related researchclusters: Military studies, Australian defence, and Asia-Pacificsecurity. We offer Australia's most respected graduate programsdealing with Australian Defence and Asia-Pacific and global securityissues:

Master of Strategic StudiesMaster of Military & Defence StudiesBachelor of International Security Studies

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