Australia’s Foreign and Trade White Paper: time to get real (Mike Scrafton, The Strategist)

Realists argue there’s only one genuine philosophical principle to guide a nation’s foreign policy. In the first recorded debate between realists and idealists, Thucydides reported the Athenians telling the Melians, ‘the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must’. Thucydides foreshadowed the realist worldview that nations, ‘are concerned with their own security, act in pursuit of their own national interests, and struggle for power’. Realists believe that the international environment is anarchic and that, consistent with their capacity and opportunities, states will always act in their own economic, ideological and security interests. Philosophically, the new Foreign and Trade White Paper (FTWP) should be firmly based in realism.

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/time-get-real/

Arctic dreams (Mike Scrafton, The Strategist)

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/arctic-dreams/

A relaxed Russia (Mike Scrafton, The Strategist)

Russia’s likely to be pleased with the outcomes of the NATO meeting in Warsaw and will certainly not regard their strategic position as weakened. Russia will welcome signs of discord and posturing within both NATO and the European Union. The NATO emphasis on increased deterrence isn’t likely to restrict Russia from acting militarily in pursuit of its interests.

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/a-relaxed-russia/

The EU, trade and the breakdown of unity (Mike Scrafton, ASPI The Strategist)

Major geopolitical shifts can be unexpected, such as the once unthinkable situation of European unity crumbling. This prospect may have delighted some observers, but it’s worrying for many others

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-eu-trade-and-the-breakdown-of-unity/

Marching in China’s boots (Mike Scrafton, ASPI The Strategist)

Imagine yourself walking down the long corridor to the briefing room of the Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC). What would it be like to be providing strategic policy advice to the Chinese government? What would it be like to employ the principles that inform Australian strategic policy, applying them to China’s situation?

Continue reading here ...



Mike Scrafton is a former senior defence executive, CEO of a State Statutory Body and chief of staff and ministerial adviser to a former Minister for Defence.

Reader response: straddling the divide (Mike Scrafton, ASPI The Strategist)

As someone who has straddled the public servant/ministerial adviser divide I found that the first two parts of Graeme Dobell’s series on the Canberra Minder caused me to reflect on my own experience.

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/reader-response-straddling-the-divide/