The fourth issue of Australian Foreign Affairs examines the challenge of defending Australia at a time of regional uncertainty and fast-changing military technology. It explores the nation’s main vulnerabilities and the capabilities needed to secure against them, including the consequences of a nuclear arms race in Asia.

• Michael Wesley examines where Australia’s next war will occur, and how we can defend ourselves.
• John Birmingham analyses Australia’s weapons capabilities and how they compare to those of our Asian allies.
• Patrick Walters probes into Australia’s expanding intelligence agencies.
• Stephan Frühling considers if Australia should go nuclear, in the event of a looming Asian arms race.

PLUS

• Jane Perlez on Francois Bougon’s Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping and the aspirations of China’s leader for life.
• Tess Newton Cain on Matthew G. Allen’s Resource Extraction and Contentious States and mining in the Pacific region.
• Matthew Thompson on Jonathan Miller’s Duterte Harry and Duterte’s murderous rule in the Philippines.
• Richard Moore on Jack Corbett’s Australia's Foreign Aid Dilemma and the role that Australia could and should play in assisting other nations.

 
ALSO
Correspondence on AFA3: Australia and Indonesia, including responses from the feature essayists.