Release of Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Strategic Insight No. 15/2005 

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has today released a new ASPI Strategic Insight publication, which examines the strategic origins of the Gallipoli operation under the direction of the First Lord of the British Admiralty, Winston Churchill. 

Authored by Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at ADFA in Canberra, Professor Robin Prior, and titled ‘The Strategy behind Gallipoli: Strategic decision-making in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli‘, the paper is the first in an occasional series of Strategic Insights re-examining key strategic policy decision-making in the past. 

“Although Churchill’s schemes were many and various they had one factor in common: they sought not just to defeat the German fleet but to use British naval power to shorten the duration of the war on land.”

“In the willingness of the British War Council and many of its advisors to believe that sea power could achieve this end, it lead to the grave underestimation by all concerned on the determination with which the enemy (Turkey) would defend its homeland.” Robin states.

Prior says that after the ill-fated naval attack in the Dardanelles that lasted from 19 February to 18 March, Prior notes that “Not for the first time during the First World War a strategic concept had come unstuck because the tactics required for its successful implementation were beyond the abilities of the force employed.”

In other words hopes of victory lay in the conviction that Turkish morale would crumble in the face of British sea power. When it did not the game was up.

The Insight assesses the strategic thinking behind the First World War Gallipoli operation that led a powerful British and Commonwealth army to defeat. 

Professor Prior also argues that an allied victory in Turkey would, in fact, have had little impact on the broad course of the war.

Release of Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Strategic Insight No. 14/2005

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has today released a Strategic Insight publication on the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

Authored by ASPI’s Strategy and International Program Director, Elsina Wainwright, the Insight analyses RAMSI’s progress, the challenges that lie ahead, and what lessons might be learned for state-building operations elsewhere.

In the more than twenty months since RAMSI deployed, the operation has had a number of important successes, including the restoration of a sense of security and the stabilisation of the Solomon Islands budget. Significant headway has been made in cleaning up the Royal Solomon Islands Police, and the life sentences for warlord Harold Keke and his associates are important milestones in the consolidation of the rule of law. 

But for all the progress, there have also been setbacks. Last year’s sniper murder of Australian Protective Service Officer Adam Dunning demonstrates all too starkly that some security issues persist. 

While RAMSI continues to enjoy great community support in Solomon Islands, the operation still has much work ahead of it. Addressing corruption, rebuilding institutions, and reviving the Solomon Islands economy are all difficult tasks, which will take a considerable number of years to complete. 

And many challenges lie ahead, including the implications of targeting some of the ‘big fish’ for corruption, the risk that Solomon Islands Parliament’s support for RAMSI might evaporate, and the need to manage ongoing ethnic tensions.

Release of Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Strategic Insight No. 12/2005

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has today released a new ASPI Strategic Insight publication calling on the government to develop a new defence white paper.

Authored by ASPI’s Acting Director, Peter Jennings, the ASPI Strategic Insight sets out the reasons why a new defence policy statement is increasingly needed.

“The government will have to make a number of critical defence policy decisions over the next twelve to twenty-four months” Jennings argues.

“These include decisions about our strategic posture, major military capability acquisitions and future plans for defence spending and efficiency measures.”

Jennings said: “These choices could be made in isolation, but the best way to arrive at the right policy outcomes would be via a disciplined and systematic review of our defence policy settings.”

The ASPI Strategic Insight outlines how the government might handle the following vital questions:

” What has really changed in Australia’s strategic outlook as a result of 9/11?

” How does defence policy fit into Australia’s emerging national security strategy?

” What is the best role for the ADF in our counter-terrorism strategies?

” What is the best role for the ADF in promoting stability in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific?

” Is ‘structuring for war and adapting for peace’ still the best approach?

” How far should we adopt network centric warfare?

” What ‘niche forces’ should we maintain for coalition operations?

” Should the Government continue real growth in Defence spending after 2011?

Launch of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI’s) Strategy report Scoping Studies: New thinking on security

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has today released its report, Scoping Studies: New thinking on security, as a major new contribution to policy thinking on national security.

Scoping Studies presents eleven views from a diverse selection of writers, each presenting their own list of the critical decisions the Government must make to keep Australia secure.

ASPI intends that Scoping Studies should contribute to the defence and national security agenda for this new term of government.

ASPI’s Acting Director, Peter Jennings, says “We gave our contributors the maximum flexibility so they could present their personal views about Australia’s key security challenges.”

“But a number of common themes emerged. Many of our authors called for Australia to develop a stronger national security approach. This would involve more closely coordinating Defence and other areas of government like aid, policing, education links and diplomacy to achieve security objectives.”

“There was also a close focus on the US alliance” Jennings said. “Our authors agree that the alliance is important to Asia-Pacific stability, but there is a wide range of views about how closely Australian policy should be linked to Washington.”

There are also diverse contributions on, among other topics:

• How Australia should contribute to a stronger ‘human security’ agenda;
• The need for a new Defence White Paper – and what it should say.
• The challenge of developing a new defence industry policy.

Scoping Studies includes contributions from some of Australia’s leading thinkers on defence and security. Our eleven authors include academics, former senior military figures, and individuals with journalistic, industry and public service backgrounds.

“ASPI is delighted to release Scoping Studies as the latest issue in our Strategy series” Jennings, said.

“We hope these papers will help to invigorate a strong public debate on Australia’s increasingly demanding policy challenges in defence and security.”

Release of Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Strategic Insight No. 11/2004

ASPI today released its latest Strategic Insight Australia-India Reengagement: Common Security Concerns, Converging Strategic Horizons, Complementary Force Structures.

Written by Ms Jenelle Bonnor and Professor Varun Sahni, the co-convenors of the Australia-India Security Roundtable, the paper argues that Australia and India have covered a considerable distance since bilateral defence and security relations were reestablished in 2000 after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. There is now a well-established habit of dialogue between the two governments, particularly on strategic issues. This dialogue has built the foundation for a more substantial and predictable security relationship.

But for security relations to become more concrete, there is a need to move beyond discussions, important though they are, and to focus on increasing the number of bilateral exchanges and other forms of practical cooperation.

Australia and India share common security concerns, particularly the threat of terrorism. Their respective strategic horizons, in the eastern Indian Ocean and beyond, are converging. And their military establishments-though differing considerably in size and shape, are complementary: they have much to learn from the other, both in areas where they share expertise as well as in areas of dissimilarity. There is therefore significant scope for closer strategic and security cooperation between Australia and India.

The report is available on our web site http://www.aspi.org.au or can be obtained by contacting ASPI on (02) 6270 5100.