History as Policy
History as Policy

Author: Ron Huisken

Publisher: ANU E Press

Published: 2007-12-01

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1921313560

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"The fortieth anniversary of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre's founding provided the opportunity to assemble many of Australia's leading analysts and commentators to review some of the more significant issues that should define Australian defence policy. ... The papers collected in this volume are not informed by a common view of where Australia should focus its defence policy, but all address themes that should figure prominently in this difficult but essential task"--Provided by publisher.

Australia's Defence Strategy
Australia's Defence Strategy

Author: Adam Lockyer

Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing

Published: 2017-01-30

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0522869335

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How would we know a good defence strategy if we saw one? The Asian Century is challenging many of the traditional assumptions at the heart of Australian defence policy and strategy. Defence scholars have risen to the challenge of these transformational times and have collectively produced a smorgasbord of alternatives for policy-makers. The problem is that these recommendations all point in very different directions. How should we evaluate these options? Adam Lockyer tackles this question and develops a novel conceptual framework for evaluating defence strategies. By doing so, this book breaks new theoretical ground and makes an important contribution to our understanding of strategy in general and defence strategy in particular. Lockyer then applies this analytical tool to the leading arguments in Australia’s defence debate and finds that there is still substantial work to be done. Lockyer concludes by proposing a new Australian defence strategy for a contested Asia that would pass the test for a ‘good’ defence strategy. The result is essential reading for anyone interested in strategy or the future of Australian defence policy.

Defence Planning and Uncertainty
Defence Planning and Uncertainty

Author: Stephan Frühling

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-04-24

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1317817850

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How can countries decide what kind of military forces they need, if threats are uncertain and history is full of strategic surprises? This is a question that is more pertinent than ever, as countries across the Asia-Pacific are faced with the military and economic rise of China. Uncertainty is inherent in defence planning, but different types of uncertainty mean that countries need to approach decisions about military force structure in different ways. This book examines four different basic frameworks for defence planning, and demonstrates how states can make decisions coherently about the structure and posture of their defence forces despite strategic uncertainty. It draws on case studies from the United States, Australian and New Zealand, each of which developed key concepts for their particular circumstances and risk perception in Asia. Success as well as failure in developing coherent defence planning frameworks holds lessons for the United States and other countries as they consider how best to structure their military forces for the uncertain challenges of the future.

Discourses of Danger & Dread Frontiers
Discourses of Danger & Dread Frontiers

Author: Graeme Cheeseman

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9781863739757

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"The contributors to this volume offer a comprehensive theoretical critique of the closed and introspective approaches which both define and determine contemporary Australian defence and security policy. They critically assess the basic assumptions of mainstream security thinking challenging existing orthodoxies and means of framing reality. The authors call on policy makers, academics and others working on defence and security issues to think more critically and theoretically; to begin to ask some of the difficult questions that are being raised in other disciplines; and finally, to recognise and accept the contested and problematic nature of many of the concepts that they advance as if they were self-evident. Discourses of Danger is a timely and provocative book which complements and advances the work of the Secure Australia Project and other critics of the Australian security mainstream." -- Back cover.