Australia S National Security Into The Twenty First Century

In Stand on Guard, Stephanie Carvin sets out to explain the range of activities considered national security threats by Canadian security services today. As new forms of terrorism and extremism appear, especially online, we need a responsibly widened view of such threats and how they manifest in the contemporary world. Canadians should not be more fearful, Carvin explains, but a more sophisticated understanding among security services personnel and the general public is needed if we are to anticipate and ameliorate threats to national security. As a former security analyst tasked with providing threat assessments to high levels of government, Carvin writes with both authority and urgency. Her book presents an insider’s look at the issues facing the Canadian security and intelligence community. Timely and accessible, Stand on Guard will be required reading for scholars, practitioners, and any Canadian concerned about national security in the twenty-first century.

This edited collection brings together leading scholars to comparatively investigate national security, surveillance and terror in the early 21st century in two major western jurisdictions, Canada and Australia. Observing that much debate about these topics is dominated by US and UK perspectives, the volume provides penetrating analysis of national security and surveillance practices in two under-studied countries that reveals critical insights into current trends. Written by a wide range of experts in their respective fields, this book addresses a fascinating array of timely questions about the relationship among national security, privacy and terror in the two countries and beyond. Chapters include critical assessments of topics such as: National Security Intelligence Collection since 9/11, The Border as Checkpoint in an Age of Hemispheric Security and Surveillance, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Law Enforcement, as well as Federal Government Departments and Security Regimes. An engaging and empirically driven study, this collection will be of great interest to scholars of security and surveillance studies, policing, and comparative criminology.

The latter years of the first decade of the twenty-first century were characterised by an enormous amount of challenge and change to Australia and Australians. Australia's part in these challenges and changes is borne of our domestic and global ties, our orientation towards ourselves and others, and an ever increasing awareness of the interdependency of our world. Challenges and changes such as terrorism, climate change, human rights, community breakdown, work and livelihood, and crime are not new but they take on new variations and impact on us in different ways in times such as these.

The global political environment in the twenty-first century is proving dynamic and challenging for Australian policymakers and political institutions. Australian Politics in the Twenty-first Century contextualises the Australian political landscape through an institutional lens. It examines the legislative and judicial bodies, minor parties, lobby groups, the media and the citizenry, providing historical and contemporary facts, explaining political issues and examining new challenges. The second edition has been updated to reflect the application of political theories in today's civic environment. New spotlight boxes highlight issues including marriage equality, COVID-19 and federalism, the inclusion of First Nations peoples in the political system, and gender equality in public policy. Short-answer, reflection, research and discussion questions encourage students to test and extend their knowledge of each topic and to clearly link theory to practice. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century is an invaluable introduction to the Australian political system.

This edited volume helps bridge the elusive gap between theory and practice in dealing with the issue of "security" broadly conceived. A quarter of a century has passed since the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. Yet our notions of security remain mired in Cold War thinking whose realist ethos is predicated on holding the nation state's power, interests, and survival as the guiding unit of analysis in international relations. Security is ever changing. Confronting new dangers to the individual, the state, and the international order calls for new categories that speak to the new influence of globalization, international institutions, and transnational threats. Composed of original essays by a cosmopolitan mix of leading figures inside and outside the academy, this book proves relevant to any number of classes and courses, and its controversial character makes it all the more necessary and appealing.

This book shows how one of the most powerful tools of security studies—strategic culture—illuminates the origins and implications of the Asia-Pacific region’s difficult issues, from the rise of China and the American pivot, to the shifting calculations of many other actors. Strategic culture sometimes challenges and always enriches prevailing neo-realist presumptions about the region. It provides a bridge between material and ideational explanations of state behavior and helps capture the tension between neoclassical realist and constructivist approaches. The case studies in this book survey the role of strategic culture in the behaviors of Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and the United States. They show the contrast between structural expectations and cultural predispositions, as realist geopolitical security threats and opportunities interact with domestic elite and popular interpretation of historical narratives and distinctive political-military cultures to influence security policies. The concluding chapter devotes special attention to methodological issues at the heart of strategic cultural studies, as well as how culture may impact the potential for future conflict or cooperation in the region. The result is a body of work that helps deepen our understanding of strategic cultures in the Asia-Pacific in comparative perspective and enrich security studies. This bookw as published as a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy.

The relationship between the United States and China will be of critical importance to the world throughout the twenty-first century. In the West China’s rise is often portrayed as a threat and China seen in negative terms. This book explores the dynamics of this crucial relationship. It looks in particular at what causes an international relationship to be perceived negatively, and considers what can be done to reverse this, arguing that trust is a key factor. It goes on to discuss US and Chinese rhetoric and behaviour in three key areas – climate change, finance, and international security. The book contends that, contrary to much US rhetoric, China’s actions in these areas is often much more flexible and accommodating than the US position, and that the Chinese are much more knowledgeable about, and understanding and appreciative of, the United States than vice versa.