Rethinking Strategy and Statecraft in the 21st Century

Today’s most pressing security challenges – great power conflict, economic dependence, climate change and non-traditional threats such as pandemics – are complex, deeply interconnected and non-linear. Governments are faced with a shrinking policy space because of this complex interdependence and growing strategic competition. Effective strategy is essential for winning the strategic contest, and diplomacy is essential to selling this strategy.

Professor Evelyn Goh and Associate Professor Jochen Prantl from our Strategic and Defence Studies Centre will explore these emerging challenges in their two-year research project, Strategic Diplomacy for Australian Defence and Statecraft, which will investigate how Australia and its key allies and partners can best meet their future defence and security needs. The project will stimulate ideas and debate among Australian defence stakeholders and equip policymakers with the strategic literacy necessary to navigate the complex challenges of the 21st Century.

“This innovative project advances our ‘Strategic Diplomacy’ framework developed for dealing with complex systems problems in defence and security. It uses four cases – Japan, UK, Germany, Singapore – to generate new insights for developing Strategic Diplomacy for Australia”, says Professors Evelyn Goh and Jochen Prantl.

The Strategic Diplomacy for Australian Defence and Statecraft research project is supported by a 2020 Australian Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grant.

Once completed, the project’s findings and policy recommendations will be published in a major report.