Australia needs to rethink defence strategy, with Dr Ross Babbage

In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by Dr Ross Babbage, CEO of Strategic Forum and senior non-resident fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The pair discuss a range of subjects following Babbage's recent trip to the United States, including: Australia's need to prepare for a more direct involvement in kinetic regional conflict in the Indo-Pacific – including recognising that we are no longer on the periphery of geopolitical competition. The multidimensional depth and facets of the challenges being posed by the People's Republic of China: Babbage emphasises that China's strategy includes economic coercion, hybrid conflict and soft power, and that Western assumptions about China's integration leading to liberalisation have proven wrong. How Western governments have failed to effectively communicate the strategic risks to their populations: Babbage argues that public awareness is essential for national resilience and policy support, and that many in the public are willing to act once properly informed. Australia's urgent need to expand and rethink its defence and industrial capabilities to meet the growing expectations of the new US Trump administration. Enjoy the Podcast, The Defence Connect team