Australia's Nuclear Choices. Australia's nuclear choices will be made in the context of a challenging and fluid international strategic environment characterised in Australia's immediate region by heightened global concerns regarding such transnational dilemmas as terrorism, energy security and nuclear proliferation. This project, through exploring the nature, evolution and consequences of contemporary strategic, military and civil nuclear developments impacting on the international non-prolifer ....Australia's Nuclear Choices. Australia's nuclear choices will be made in the context of a challenging and fluid international strategic environment characterised in Australia's immediate region by heightened global concerns regarding such transnational dilemmas as terrorism, energy security and nuclear proliferation. This project, through exploring the nature, evolution and consequences of contemporary strategic, military and civil nuclear developments impacting on the international non-proliferation regime will enable Australian policy-makers to better calibrate the costs and benefits of potential policy changes across these strategic, regime and market realms of Australia's nuclear interests.Read moreRead less
Extended Nuclear Deterrence and the Restraint of Non-Nuclear Allies: Material Cooperation and Strategic Dialogue. Extended nuclear deterrence is central to the security commitments offered by the US to its European and Asian allies, but little is known about why non-nuclear allies ask for the nuclear assurances they do and how they influence the assurances they ultimately receive. Using the lenses of intra-alliance bargaining, the role and composition of assurances, and domestic and internationa ....Extended Nuclear Deterrence and the Restraint of Non-Nuclear Allies: Material Cooperation and Strategic Dialogue. Extended nuclear deterrence is central to the security commitments offered by the US to its European and Asian allies, but little is known about why non-nuclear allies ask for the nuclear assurances they do and how they influence the assurances they ultimately receive. Using the lenses of intra-alliance bargaining, the role and composition of assurances, and domestic and international interactions, the project investigates why non-nuclear allies often seek modest extended nuclear deterrence guarantees when they could push for more ambitious commitments. The outcomes of the project will advance theoretical understanding of alliances, assurance and nuclear strategy, with direct relevance to foreign policy and nuclear disarmament.Read moreRead less
Slicing India: a new perspective for understanding contemporary India. This project exploits techniques of slice history, pioneered in AUSTRALIANS: A HISTORICAL LIBRARY. Using the 12-yearly religious festival, the Kumbh Mela, to define its slice years, the study compares over time the extent to which men and women were involved with, or divorced from, the ideas of an Indian nation, political decision-making and institutions, religious practices, a wider economy and the ecology of their dwelling ....Slicing India: a new perspective for understanding contemporary India. This project exploits techniques of slice history, pioneered in AUSTRALIANS: A HISTORICAL LIBRARY. Using the 12-yearly religious festival, the Kumbh Mela, to define its slice years, the study compares over time the extent to which men and women were involved with, or divorced from, the ideas of an Indian nation, political decision-making and institutions, religious practices, a wider economy and the ecology of their dwelling places. The Project aims to identify neglected aspects of politics and society in modern India and thus sharpen understanding of India's current condition and potential.Read moreRead less
Introducing China: The World's Oldest and Newest Major Power. China's weight in regional affairs is growing rapidly on all fronts, and will continue to do so into the indefinite future. China will be the largest single source of dynamism and turbulence in our region. Australia's political and business leaders will be confronted with decisions and choices with significant ramifications for our well-being into the longer term future. A deeper understanding of China's aspirations, and of the impa ....Introducing China: The World's Oldest and Newest Major Power. China's weight in regional affairs is growing rapidly on all fronts, and will continue to do so into the indefinite future. China will be the largest single source of dynamism and turbulence in our region. Australia's political and business leaders will be confronted with decisions and choices with significant ramifications for our well-being into the longer term future. A deeper understanding of China's aspirations, and of the impact that China is having on the outlook of others in the region, will improve the odds for sensible decisions and choices. It may also be the key to avoiding choices that we do not wish to make.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101123
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$393,359.00
Summary
Through their eyes: Rethinking the role of information operations in counterinsurgency scholarship and strategy. Western counterinsurgency forces regularly lose the 'information battle' to militarily and economically inferior insurgent forces. This project explores why and how insurgent adversaries often prove superior in shaping the perceptions of local populations and winning their support. Through case studies of East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, the project identifies the key strategic pilla ....Through their eyes: Rethinking the role of information operations in counterinsurgency scholarship and strategy. Western counterinsurgency forces regularly lose the 'information battle' to militarily and economically inferior insurgent forces. This project explores why and how insurgent adversaries often prove superior in shaping the perceptions of local populations and winning their support. Through case studies of East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, the project identifies the key strategic pillars in insurgent information operations in order to critically analyse and revise the role of information operations in counterinsurgency theory and practice. This research will advance scholarly understanding of the psychosocial dynamics of influence during conflict and challenge dominant trends in counterinsurgency theory and practice.Read moreRead less
Political normativity and the feasibility requirement. Commonsense says that claims about how social and political life ought to be arranged must not make infeasible demands. This project will investigate this piece of commonsense and explore its implications for a number of pressing issues, such as climate change, multiculturalism, political participation, inequality, historical justice, and the rules of war.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101522
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,000.00
Summary
The politics of torture in Myanmar and Thailand. This project aims to explore how torture occurs in Asian countries of political, economic and strategic importance to Australia. Torture is by many accounts routine practice for police and security forces across Asia. How is torture possible? What role is it playing? By documenting where, when and how torture occurs, this project aims to determine what torture constitutes and analyse the politics that enable it. It is anticipated that information ....The politics of torture in Myanmar and Thailand. This project aims to explore how torture occurs in Asian countries of political, economic and strategic importance to Australia. Torture is by many accounts routine practice for police and security forces across Asia. How is torture possible? What role is it playing? By documenting where, when and how torture occurs, this project aims to determine what torture constitutes and analyse the politics that enable it. It is anticipated that information from the project could be used to develop effective interventions to address torture. The project also anticipates contributing to policy-oriented debate on whether torture can be eliminated, or merely suppressed.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101866
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$324,557.00
Summary
Building back better: Participatory governance in a post-Haiyan world. 'Building back better' has become a global mantra for countries recovering from disasters. This project aims to examine how this principle can be extended from rebuilding disaster-resilient physical infrastructure to rehabilitating institutions of participatory governance to ensure the inclusive and empowering character of recovery efforts. Through a multi-sited ethnography in cities worst hit by the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in th ....Building back better: Participatory governance in a post-Haiyan world. 'Building back better' has become a global mantra for countries recovering from disasters. This project aims to examine how this principle can be extended from rebuilding disaster-resilient physical infrastructure to rehabilitating institutions of participatory governance to ensure the inclusive and empowering character of recovery efforts. Through a multi-sited ethnography in cities worst hit by the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, a theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded analytical toolkit that gauges the democratic quality of post-disaster reconstruction will be developed. The project aims to generate insights into the precise ways in which participatory governance can also be 'built better' in a post-Haiyan world.Read moreRead less
Gender after conflict: a gendered analysis of the international community's engagement in post-conflict zones. Efforts by the international community to transition post-conflict societies into peaceful democracies can be fraught with complex politics. This project seeks to examine the role that the international community's ideas and policies about gender have on the failures and successes of this transition.
Australian public opinion towards foreign and defence policy since 1960: patterns, explanations, policies. The issues of foreign affairs and national security have become increasingly important to Australians in the wake of the Bali bombing, the invasion of Iraq, and the 'War on Terror.' However there are a number of unknowns in research of this kind. What are the public's key concerns? How have our current attitudes been shaped and how much have our opinions changed in recent years? This projec ....Australian public opinion towards foreign and defence policy since 1960: patterns, explanations, policies. The issues of foreign affairs and national security have become increasingly important to Australians in the wake of the Bali bombing, the invasion of Iraq, and the 'War on Terror.' However there are a number of unknowns in research of this kind. What are the public's key concerns? How have our current attitudes been shaped and how much have our opinions changed in recent years? This project would provide crucial insights into the topic, identifying those countries seen as the principal threats to Australia, examining how and why people feel that way, and most importantly, indicating what governments can do to better inform and shape public opinion in foreign affairs and defence-related matters.Read moreRead less