Last year we discussed Australian defence culture and values with the Chief of Army David Morrison. Now, following budget cuts and the release of the new Defence White Paper, the Fifth Estate looks a…
The plucky bravery of the Anzacs is one of our great national stories – it plays into our idea of who we are. But why is one of the touchstones of our identity based on a historic defeat?Some are…
Sexual violence against civilians is a common feature in modern wars. The impact on survivors, primarily women and girls, and their communities is devastating. There have been strong moves by the…
Sometimes there’s nothing better than a good rant. Every Thursday, the Wheeler Centre hostsan old-fashioned Speakers’ Corner in the middle of the city, where writers and thinkers canhave their say…
The Fifth Estate is the Wheeler Centre’s new series of fortnightly forums: a more measured approach to news and current affairs. Provocative and studied, authoritative and unhurried, this is real…
What is the role of Australia’s Defence Force in the 21st century? In the recent federal budget, defence spending was cut to the smallest proportion of national wealth since 1938. Does Australia…
No matter how compelling a novel or a film might be, if you have to study it, there’s always the risk you’ll end up hating it. Not any more! A gift to VCE students, their teachers (and of course…
WikiLeaks – the rise, the backlash, the perilous fate of its Australian founder, Julian Assange – is one of the biggest news stories of the new millennium. WikiLeaks’ revelations have exposed…
When should the international community intervene in civil conflict? What made last year’s Libyan conflict suitable for intervention, while Syrians continued to struggle against despotism alone? In t…
When should the international community intervene in civil conflict? What made last year’s Libyan conflict suitable for intervention, while Syrians continued to struggle against despotism alone? In t…
Foreign correspondent Kim Barker’s personal account of reporting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, The Taliban Shuffle, is a fiercely honest – and occasionally hilarious – dissection of the absurdities…
Foreign correspondent Kim Barker’s personal account of reporting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, The Taliban Shuffle, is a fiercely honest – and occasionally hilarious – dissection of the absurdities…
Natalie Sambhi, co-editor of the blog Security Scholar, attended last week’s Intelligence Squared debate on the merits of Australian involvement in Afghanistan. She’s reviewed the event on Security…
As each name is added to the growing list of Australians killed serving in Afghanistan, the government assures the nation that the sacrifice in lives has been for a good cause and in the national…
“At the moment the Australian effort at nation building in Oruzgan province is grossly underdone,” writes ex-army chief Peter Leahy, now director of Canberra University’s National Security…
The panel discussion featured in this video is the intellectual equivalent of the Big Day Out, Lollapalooza or Glastonbury. Three of the world’s most outspoken figures in philosophy and journalism…
(Click to watch video.)
“I am increasingly convinced that this is the most important period in Israel’s history since 1948, because we have to make…
“Throughout Australia there is a strong appetite for debate and discussion about WikiLeaks and Assange,” writes journalist Barbara Gunnell in a piece published last week in the Financial Times…
Of all the photographs on the ABC’s online list of casualties in Operation Slipper, the name given to Australia’s Afghanistan mission, perhaps none is as affecting as that of Private Grant Kirby…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced yesterday that Australia’s military mission in Afghanistan will not be scaled back despite measures announced by President Barack Obama for a scaledown of US…
A little over a week ago we asked the question, why are we at war? Since then, more volleys have been launched in the debate about the future of Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan. In…
