Implications for Australia of the challenges from China and Russia and a distracted US

The war in Ukraine, the increasing tensions from China in our region, the uncertainty of the role of US in global conflicts and the changing nature of war, pose critical questions about our defence capability now and in the future.

We are delighted that Paul Dibb AM, PhD BA (Hons), Emeritus Professor of strategic studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the ANU will be joining us.

Under our strict Chatham House Rule, Paul is uniquely positioned to outline the complexity and consequences of these profound geopolitical shifts.

Paul was previously Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre from 1991 to 2004. Prior to this he was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence in the Department of Defence, Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation, and Head of the National Assessments Staff in the National Intelligence Committee.

Paul is the author of 5 books including,” Inside the Wilderness of Mirrors: Australia and the threat of the Soviet Union in the Cold war and Russia today” (2018)

He is the author of 4 reports to government, as well as more than 150 academic articles and monographs about the security of the Asia-Pacific region, the US alliance, and Australia’s defence policy. He wrote the 1986 Review of Australia’s Defence Capabilities (the Dibb Report) and was the primary author of the 1987 Defence White Paper.

As events are unfolding day by day, join us via zoom for what will be an enlightening, and possibly prescient conversation.