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John Blaxland

Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University
John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies, and was recently appointed Official Historian of the Australian Signals Directorate and commissioned to write a two-volume history of ASD. He is a former Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and the first Australian recipient of a US Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative grant examining great power contestation in Southeast Asia. John holds a PhD in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, an MA in History from ANU and a BA (Hons 1) from UNSW. He is a graduate of the Royal Thai Army Command & Staff College (dux, foreign students) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon (Blamey Scholar). He has extensive experience in the intelligence community including as the principal intelligence staff officer (S2) for the Australian infantry brigade deployed to East Timor in September 1999, as an intelligence exchange officer in Washington DC, and as Director Joint Intelligence Operations (J2), at Headquarters Joint Operations Command. In addition he was Australia’s Defence Attaché to Thailand and Myanmar. At ANU, he teaches undergraduate students a course entitled “Honeypots and Overcoats: Australian Intelligence in the World”. His publications include: The Secret Cold War: The Official History of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1975-1989 (2016); East Timor Intervention (2015); The Protest Years (2015): The Australian Army From Whitlam to Howard (2014); Strategic Cousins (2006); Revisiting Counterinsurgency (2006); Information era Manoeuvre (2003); Signals: Swift and Sure (1998); and Organising an Army: The Australian Experience 1957-1965 (1989).

Calling in the army for the vaccine rollout and every other emergency shows how ill-prepared we are

Jun 07, 2021 23:44 pm UTC| Health

News the armys Lieutenant General John JJ Frewen has been picked to lead a new COVID-19 vaccination task force has prompted fresh discussion of the defence forces role in Australia. Frewen, already the commander of the...

Global Geopolitics Series

China does not want war, at least not yet. It's playing the long game

May 09, 2021 09:03 am UTC| Politics

Talk of war has become louder in recent days, but the drumbeat has been heard for some time now as Chinas military capabilities have grown. China does not want war, at least not yet. Its playing the long game and its...

Economy

India Slashes Fuel Taxes: A Ten-Rupee Relief Amid Global Energy Turmoil

Effective March 26, 2026, the Indian government made a decisive fiscal action by significantly lowering the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on motor fuels. This change in policy lowers the tax on gasoline from INR 13...

France's 2025 Budget Deficit Shrinks More Than Expected, Easing Fiscal Pressure

France made stronger-than-expected progress on its public finances in 2025, with the national budget deficit falling to 5.1% of GDP a notable improvement from 5.8% recorded in 2024 and well ahead of the governments own...

Oil Prices Slip as Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire Deadline Amid Ongoing War Fears

Global oil prices were on course for a weekly loss on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump granted Iran a 10-day extension before threatening to strike its energy infrastructure, offering markets a brief reprieve ...

Asian Stocks Rebound as Trump Delays Iran Strike Deadline

Asian equity markets staged a partial recovery on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed a planned military strike on Iranian energy infrastructure, extending the deadline by over ten days while signaling...

Google's TurboQuant Sends South Korean Chip Stocks Tumbling Amid AI Memory Demand Fears

South Korean equities took a sharp hit Friday as mounting concerns over reduced artificial intelligence memory demand dragged the KOSPI index to its lowest point in more than two weeks. The benchmark fell nearly 3% to...

Politics

Lavrov Claims U.S. Seeks Control Over Damaged Nord Stream Pipelines

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of pursuing dominance over the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which were severely damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. The...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

U.S. Praises Kurdistan's Role in Oil Markets Amid Iran War Fallout

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a significant diplomatic call Thursday with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, signaling Washingtons commitment to regional energy stability as conflict...

Russia Accused of Helping Iran Target U.S. Forces, European Powers Tell G7

European nations have formally accused Russia of providing military intelligence and drone technology to Iran to help target American forces in the Middle East, raising the issue directly with U.S. Secretary of State Marco...

Trump Signs Executive Order to Pay TSA Workers Amid Airport Security Crisis

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to ensure Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees receive their pay,...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...

Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round

Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence startup Reflection AI is in advanced discussions to secure $2.5 billion in fresh funding, with negotiations pointing to a staggering pre-money valuation of $25 billion, according to a...

Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco

Shares of Taiwan-based memory chip manufacturer Nanya Technology soared to their daily limit of 10% on Thursday morning following the companys announcement of a major $2.5 billion private placement deal backed by prominent...