Stop the World

Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
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Everything seems to be accelerating: geopolitics, technology, security threats, the dispersal of information. At times, it feels like a blur. But beneath the dizzying proliferation of events, discoveries, there are deeper trends that can be grasped and understood through conversation and debate. That’s the idea behind Stop the World, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s podcast on international affairs and security. Each week, we cast a freeze-frame around the blur of events and bring some clarity and insight on defence, technology, cyber, geopolitics and foreign policy.

  1. 3 gg fa

    Bridging the gap: New Zealand's Chief Defence Scientist on innovation, sovereignty and AI

    David Galligan is Chief Defence Scientist and head of Defence Science & Technology with the New Zealand Defence Force. He was a keynote speaker at the recent ADSTAR Summit, held by the Defence Science and Technology Group, which hosted STW as podcast partner. David explains how his team sits between military operators and the technology creators in industry, universities and research institutes, acting as a bridge with ideas flowing in both directions. He also explains why that balance is shifting now that so much innovation happens in the private sector. He talks about New Zealand's strengths, the balance between fundamental research and later-stage practical capabilities, the challenge of knowing where to concentrate your efforts, and his team's role in growing a sovereign industry in New Zealand. And of course, he gives his perspective on artificial intelligence. It's been an extraordinary fortnight in AI, with major breakthroughs making the technology more powerful while the safeguards struggle to keep up. We'll be digging into all of it at ASPI's AI Masterclass on Monday 14 September. Check out the line-up on our website.

  2. 3 set

    ADSTAR Summit series: RAAF’s Ross Rice on getting technology into the fight faster

    Group Captain Ross Rice heads the Rapid Capability Office under Plan Jericho, the Royal Australian Air Force's effort to integrate technology and innovation, and to get new capabilities into the hands of its people quickly. He joins STW at the ADSTAR Summit, where we were hosted by the Defence Science and Technology Group. Ross draws lessons from Ukraine—including brilliant operations such as Operation Spiderweb—on what drones have done to the battlefield and how uncrewed doctrine is evolving, from the risk calculations militaries can now make through to the question of where humans sit in the loop. He is thoughtful on automation and the laws of armed conflict, on trust in the technology, on the role of AI in making sense of the flood of data coming off modern sensors, and on how to avoid a race to the ethical bottom—a subject on which he has a nice quote from history. The conversation also covers continuous modernisation and how industry is adapting. Ross describes innovation running in both directions between Defence and industry, driven by military need and by ideas emerging from the private sector. And he closes on the idea of sovereign industry as a key part of Australia’s strategic depth.

  3. 28 ago

    Retired Major-General Roger Noble on the horror and unavoidability of war

    Retired Major-General Roger Noble AO, DSC, CSC joins STW to talk about his new book, My Long War, covering his remarkable career over six operational deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. The book is part memoir, part reflection on warfare and humanity, part critique of conventional military and strategic thinking. It pulls no punches while honouring the people he served with, and it's packed with cracking anecdotes from an extraordinary life. As Roger puts it, some people simply can't be reasoned with—so however horrible it is, sometimes it has to be fought. His memorable analogy of one of the most famous fictional villains of recent decades is a stand out for fans of American author Cormac McCarthy. Roger talks about leadership, about understanding one’s enemy, and about working with coalition partners from the Americans to the Iraqis. He shares his criticisms of the disconnect between strategy and tactics in Afghanistan, his thoughts on the war crimes allegations stemming from Australia's involvement there and his views on the question of accountability. And he discusses what six deployments taught him about the science of warfare and the need for rational analysis. Roger spent time with an international team destroying Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons stockpiles in 1992, returned to Iran in 2005 during the second Gulf War, and went back a third time in 2016 to help liberate Mosul from ISIS. He also served in East Timor in 2000-01 and twice in Afghanistan. He retired in 2021, and went on to become Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Ambassador. Roger Noble, My Long War: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/My-Long-War/Roger-Noble/9781923720046

  4. 25 ago

    ADSTAR Summit series: AI, data and decision advantage, with Paul Robards

    On the sidelines of the ADSTAR Summit, STW speaks with Paul Robards, Defence's Chief Data Integration Officer, who also has responsibility for the Defence Artificial Intelligence Centre. Paul spent 30 years in the Australian Army before taking on the task of turning Defence's vast data holdings into genuine capability. The conversation covers Defence's current AI use, the perils of risk-aversion, minimum viable capability, data and AI literacy among senior leaders, and where a middle power like Australia can meaningfully contribute alongside allies and partners. Paul draws a sharp distinction between bolting AI onto existing processes and redesigning those processes around it. He makes the case that data is where a large part the advantage lies, and that siloed data stops a commander seeing across people, materiel, logistics and intelligence at once. He walks through the OODA loop in a modern battlespace saturated with sensors, and where AI can help at each stage while humans stay firmly at the point of decision. The conversation closes on how fast the future is arriving, and why agility matters more than perfection. Paul will also be joining STW's AI Masterclass in Canberra on 14 September. For more information check out the website.

  5. 20 ago

    Contestability at 25: Hugh White & Justin Bassi on ASPI's founding and Australia’s strategic future

    This Saturday marks ASPI's 25th birthday – the date the institute began operations in 2001. To mark it, STW is joined by Hugh White, ASPI's founding executive director, and Justin Bassi, its current executive director, for an in-depth conversation about how the institute came to be and what it's for. Hugh recalls the establishment of ASPI by the Howard government – including a fateful plane trip with Howard's first defence minister Ian McLachlan – and a first few weeks that turned out rather differently from what he was expecting. He discusses ASPI's early impact and the experience of publicly challenging the 2003 Iraq invasion to which Howard had committed Australian troops. Hugh and Justin discuss how a think tank should balance the issues of the day against the over-the-horizon questions no one is asking yet, in traditional defence and in emerging areas such as critical technologies. They talk about how deep into the fundamentals of strategic policy a think tank should probe, the importance of challenging orthodoxy, and the US alliance, AUKUS and the state of Australia's strategic policy debate. Despite their different views of the world, their evident respect for one another shows that healthy, robust debate is very much possible in 2026. For more on the bipartisan commitment to contestability, look out for a piece this weekend jointly authored by John Howard and Kim Beazley.

  6. 18 ago

    ADSTAR Summit series: CDF Mark Hammond on technology and our future ‘great white shark’

    Australia’s new Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Mark Hammond, joins STW on the sidelines of the ADSTAR Summit in Adelaide to share his thoughts on the integration of advanced technology into defence. It’s a quickie but a goodie, with the CDF packing plenty of insights into a few minutes. We cover the key areas where technology is making a difference, especially improving the survivability of Australian personnel; long-range fires; the value of nuclear powered submarines; the close tech relationship with the US; artificial intelligence; the relationship with industry and why warfare will necessarily remain a human affair. This is a great episode while you make your morning coffee or your commute to work.

  7. 14 ago

    Anton Leicht on Australia’s AI middle power pathway

    STW speaks with Anton Leicht, one of the most compelling voices on the geopolitics and economics of artificial intelligence. Anton has become a leading authority on how middle powers such as Australia can carve out a role in the global AI value chain and avoid being pushed to the periphery as the technology advances. Anton is the author of the influential Substack Threading the Needle and a fellow with the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He discusses Australia’s opportunity to build data centres to train and run AI, how that would help guarantee future access to advanced American models such as Claude and GPT, the prospects for sovereign models built here, and how Australia can sustain a cooperative relationship with the US built on mutual dependence. The conversation then turns to AI and security: keeping models safe while avoiding a concentration of power in government hands, the responsibilities of the AI labs themselves, and compromise proposals such as third-party experts acting as safety watchdogs. Anton closes with his views on the likely economic impacts of AI and the big questions around the future of work. He’s a frontier thinker on the political economy of AI, and is closely watched by policymakers, fellow experts and industry leaders alike.

  8. 12 ago

    ADSTAR Summit series: Chief Defence Scientist Tanya Monro on asymmetric advantage

    As a relatively small military, the Australian Defence Force needs to fight and win through advantages such as superior technology. Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro, AC, is in charge of figuring out smart ways to do that. Tanya kicks off our short series recorded at the ADSTAR Summit in Adelaide, Australia's premier defence science and technology gathering. ASPI joined the summit as podcast partner alongside organisers the Defence Science and Technology Group. Tanya talks about the newly launched Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy and its three core objectives: generating asymmetric advantage, accelerating innovative solutions into capability, and reinforcing an integrated ecosystem through closer work with industry and international partners. She gives her perspective on how to harness the remarkable innovation happening across technology fields, including AI, and channel it into a stronger defence force. She walks through the six priority areas Defence is focusing on, and the balance between work that delivers immediate new capabilities and longer-term fundamental research that may not pay dividends for years but is nonetheless vital. A note that this was recorded on the sidelines of an event with more than 2000 guests, so there's some background noise. We’ll roll out further ADSTAR episodes over the next few weeks. Links: https://www.defence.gov.au/about/strategic-planning/2026-defence-innovation-science-technology-strategy

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Descrizione

Everything seems to be accelerating: geopolitics, technology, security threats, the dispersal of information. At times, it feels like a blur. But beneath the dizzying proliferation of events, discoveries, there are deeper trends that can be grasped and understood through conversation and debate. That’s the idea behind Stop the World, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s podcast on international affairs and security. Each week, we cast a freeze-frame around the blur of events and bring some clarity and insight on defence, technology, cyber, geopolitics and foreign policy.

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
  • Anni di attività
    2024 - 2026
  • Puntate
    141
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti adatti a tutti
  • Copyright
    © Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
  • Sito web del podcast
    Stop the World

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