2009 CISS in the News

13 November

Article: The race for land
"Has fertile land with access to water become the new oil? The world is experiencing a race for land set to rival the 'rush for Africa' by colonial powers in the 19th century."
Staff Member: Peter Curson & Laura Costello
Publication: ABC Unleashed
Journalist: Peter Curson & Laura Costello

11 November

Article: Consensus lies far from Copenhagen
"THE once high hopes that the picturesque and environmentally friendly Danish capital of Copenhagen would be the perfect setting for a breakthrough international agreement on climate change are proving illusory." Correction: The IPCC report was in 2007 not 2006, as stated.
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Alan Dupont

 

22 September

Article: Defence deal looms with Japan
"The Australian and Japanese governments are discussing a new defence agreement that would deepen the co-operation of their military forces in peacekeeping and international humanitarian operations."
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Peter Alford

25 August

Article: Africa demands compo for climate chaos
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: ABC News
Journalist: Bronwyn Herbert

8 August

Article: Counter-terrorism still needs to shape up
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Patrick Walter
   
Article: Call for license to spy on citizens
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Patrick Walter

31 July

Article: Asia's thirst for oil set to 'destabilise' Middle East
Staff Member: Leanne Piggott
Publication: Canberra Times
Journalist: Philip Dorling

28 July

Article: US-China energy security potential flashpoint
Staff Member: Leanne Piggott
Publication: World View, SBS Radio
Journalist: Caroline Davey

24 June

Article: Asia’s big questions: facing up to resource crises?
Global recession now sits beside issues of climate change and global warming and new doubts about the capability or even reliability of markets. The linked issues of food and fuel are asking Asia some big questions about its future.
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: ABC Radio Australia
Journalist: Graeme Dobell

5 June

Article: Unilateral formula to security unlikely
“There is no one formula for the perfect security architecture and no one route to achieve regional security, a forum was told yesterday. A lecturer, Dr Thomas S. Wilkins, felt it was unlikely that any single, multilateral security architecture would emerge anytime soon in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Staff Member: Thomas Wilkins
Publication: The New Straits Times

3 June

Article: Retired dons should merit more respect
“A while ago columnist Carlin Romano wrote a provocative piece on the trials and tribulations of being an emeritus professor in the US. In Australia the title emeritus professor is usually awarded by the university senate to retiring professors as an exceptional honour marking an outstanding contribution to their university.”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Peter Curson

2 June

Article: Australia, Nourishing China’s Economic Engine, Questions Ties
“Since three state owned Chinese companies said they would buy stakes in Australia’s storied mining industry totaling $22 billion, some of this nation’s 21.3 million people have reacted with aggrieved nationalism…. ‘The momentum has shifted from being broadly receptive to these deals to having a hard think at this,’ said Alan DuPont, who heads the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney. ‘This is not just about China and Australia. It’s about how the world sees China playing its role in the future as a great power.’”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The New York Times
Journalist: Michael Wines

1 June

Article: A pandemic of human fear and anxiety
“It is now 41 years since we experienced the last pandemic of flu and many think that we are overdue for the next one. But have we over-reacted to the present outbreak of swine flu?”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: ABC Unleashed
Journalist: Peter Curson

25 May

Article: Experts warn beware of swine flu hysteria
“The Federal Government is warning that its efforts to tackle the swine flu will result in more public inconvenience. But there are those who claim that the latest measures are an overreaction. Some immunisation experts and academics say authorities and the media have blown swine flu out of proportion and created public hysteria.”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: PM, ABC Radio
Journalist: Simon Palan

22 May

Article: Defence plans 'unaffordable'
“The Federal Government's 20-year defence white paper has been criticised by a security analyst, Alan Dupont, who says the plans are unaffordable and purchases of big-ticket items such as submarines and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will probably have to be cut back.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
Journalist: Jonathan Pearlman

21 May

Article: India’s search for energy security
“In the recent Indian elections one of the most important issues was addressing energy poverty—the fact that millions of Indians have no access to electricity. It's a paradox that gets to the heart of the inequality over climate change—at the same time as we try to cut back on our energy consumption, India's working at giving more people access to energy.”
Staff Member: CISS Visiting Scholar Dr Ligia Noronha
Publication: Late Night Live, ABC Radio
Journalist: Phillip Adams
   
Article: Defence white paper ‘won’t deliver’
“A defence and international security analyst says the Federal Government's defence plan will not deliver what it promises to. At the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Professor Alan Dupont accused the Government of neglecting strategic trends in defence.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: ABC News

4 May

Article: Concerns over Australia's defence build up
“The Australian government has announced an overhaul of its defence strategy which many are seeing as being aimed at China. In it's white paper released over the weekend, the government said that the United States remains crucial to its defence strategy but other major powers such as China and India are emerging.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: ABC Radio Australia
Journalist: Linda Mottram
   
Article: Too few boots on the ground
“Alan Dupont said most potential operations in the South Pacific would be ‘manpower-intensive’. ‘Your submarines are not that much use in those situations, where we need to take a leadership role,’ Professor Dupont said.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Joe Kelly

May 3

Article: Budget to detail Defence spending spree
“Professor Alan Dupont from the University of Sydney says there are real questions over the Government's ability to pay for the extra equipment. ‘Where are we going to get the dollars to fund this very ambitious Defence budget?’ he said.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: ABC News

May 2

Article: Government errs in its strategy
“It makes no sense for Australia in 2009 to base its long-term strategic policy on the highly contentious proposition that Australia is on an inevitable collision course with a militarily aggressive China.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian 
Journalist: Malcolm Turnbull

May 1

Article: Thermal imaging at airports to check for flu fevers
“You can be incubating the influenza virus - carrying it in you, that is - and not be showing any symptoms. And so these border screening measures simply won't pick up infection. So we need to be realistic about how much of a barrier airport checks really are.”
Staff Member: Christian Enemark
Publication: AM, ABC Radio
Journalist: Michael Edwards

30 April

Article: Flu spreads faster in cyberspace
For all the hysteria swirling around the issue, there is no cause for panicat this stage, and, hopefully, not at any stage. Most people had not even heard of swine flu a week ago. Now the internet has millions of references to it, some informative, many spurious.
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: The Australian
Author: Editorial

29 April

Article: Hysteria at fever pitch
“The epidemic of a unique strain of swine flu raging in Mexico is suspected of causing more than 1600 cases of illness and about 150 deaths. It has affected at least 40 people in parts of the US as well as producing suspected cases in Britain, Canada, Spain, France, Colombia, Israel and Australia.”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: The Australian
Author: Peter Curson

28 April

Article: Border efforts 'will only delay swine flu'
“Australia has stepped up its efforts to keep the swine flu virus out as reports of more cases continue to emerge from across the world.”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: ABC News
Author: Michael Edwards

22 April

Article: The China syndrome
“What China does next will help shape the long-term direction of Australia's defence policy.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Age
Journalist: Brendan Nicholson

18 April

Article: Diplomacy first, weapons later
“It is erroneous to believe, as some claim, that the intelligence agencies have a right to determine the risk of military threat to Australia and how we should respond.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Journalist: Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith

14 April

Article: Our forces must first be functional
It is reasonable for our defence white paper planners to prudently hedge against the possibility of a hegemonic China. But it makes no sense to allow worst-case assessments of China's intentions and capabilities to determine the next 20 years of Australian defence spending and strategy, especially when these views seem to be based on prejudice rather than informed analysis.
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Author: Alan Dupont

24 March

Article: Australia PM meets would-be 'soul mate' Obama
Australia's Kevin Rudd on Tuesday becomes one of the first world leaders to meet US President Barack Obama, an encounter that could prove to be a meeting of political soul mates. But the summit offers a tough choice for the Australian prime minister, who experts say is eager to get close to the popular new US leader, but who faces opposition at home to committing more troops to Afghanistan.
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: France24
Author: Shaun Tendon

20 March

Article: Australia looks to beef up muscle
“Last September, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a speech that got the press buzzing. Speaking to a group of army veterans, Mr Rudd painted a gloomy outlook for the Asia-Pacific.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Straits Times
Author: William Choong

14 March

Article: Planners second-guess resurgent China
“China is the hidden strategic conundrum that lies at the heart of the Rudd Government's new defence white paper.”
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: The Australian
Author: Patrick Walters

27 February

Article: Terrorism 'first order issue' for Australia: security analyst
"Professor Alan Dupont says that includes the prospect of a terrorist attack on an Australian city and a North Korean missile that reaches almost to northern Australia."
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: ABC Radio Australia
Author: Linda Mottram

26 February

Article: Nuclear bomb 'within reach of terrorists
"Terrorists could well obtain or build a nuclear bomb and smuggle it into the heart of a major city, former foreign minister Gareth Evans has warned."
Staff Member: Alan Dupont
Publication: WA Today
Author: Brendan Nicholson

3 February

Article: When fantasy cruises run aground on reality
“This year more than 13.5 million people, including more than 260,000 New Zealanders and Australians, will choose to embark on an ocean cruise. But just how safe is cruising? Are we more at risk on board a mega-liner than walking in downtown Auckland or Wellington?”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: New Zealand Herald
Author: Peter Curson

31 January

Article: Modern life gives dengue its chance
“The current dengue outbreak in parts of Northern Queensland threatens to develop into a major epidemic. As of the middle of this week there have been more than 240 cases of dengue notified in Cairns and Townsville, and recent heavy rains and flooding have greatly raised local concerns about the breeding of mosquitos and spread of the disease….”
Staff Member: Peter Curson
Publication: The Australian
Author: Peter Curson

13 January

Article: Afghan war can’t be won by foreigners
“Khalil believes that if the international community fails in Afghanistan, the consequences will hit our shores, promoting the flawed assumption that unless we go and fight terrorists on their own turf, we will surely be targeted.”
Staff Member: Peter Khalil
Publication: The Australian
Author: Benjamin Gilmour