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The renowned military historian Sir Michael Howard once wrote that military history should be studied in width, depth and context. While history is only one strand of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre's research, Howard’s aphorism highlights a key element of the Centre’s approach to analysing strategic and security challenges. 

On
Military Abolition and the Misuse of Force
Mon, 18 Sep 2023

Military Abolition and the Misuse of Force

December 1 marks the 75th anniversary of Día de la Abolición del Ejército, or Military Abolition Day in Costa Rica. The republic disestablished its armed forces in 1948.
Register here
Australian War Memorial 148420
Australian War Memorial 148420
Mon, 26 Sep 2022

Medical fears of the malingering soldier: ‘Phony cronies’ and the Repat in 1960s Australia
Effie Karageorgos addresses the historical fear and criticism of malingering soldiers and veterans in Australia, focusing on the period following World War I.
Beatrice Heuser
Beatrice Heuser
Mon, 5 Sep 2022

Recurrent debates about strategy

There are recurrent debates in strategic studies that go back to Antiquity, before the word “strategy” even assumed its modern meanings.
Adolf Hitler declaring war on the United States in the Reichstag, 11 December 1941.
Adolf Hitler declaring war on the United States in the Reichstag, 11 December 1941.
Mon, 22 Aug 2022

Hitler’s fatal miscalculation

Dr Klaus Schmider describes his recent book, Hitler’s fatal miscalculation, as a military historian’s attempt to analyse the 20th Century’s most momentous and most idiosyncratic act of hor
Australian War Memorial P01806010
Australian War Memorial P01806010
Mon, 23 May 2022

‘Saving British face’: Operation Semut and the Borneo Campaign, 1945

Operation Semut, a secret operation launched by Special Operations Australia (SOA) into Sarawak in March 1945, was ostensibly to support the impending Australian landings at Labuan and around Brune
John R. Boyd in the Korean War
John R. Boyd in the Korean War
Mon, 14 Feb 2022

Inside the mind of war: The logic of John Boyd

Colonel John Boyd (1927-1997), a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionised the art of war through his ideas on conflict, the human mind and manoeuvre warfare theory.
Bricks-without-straw.JPG
Mon, 19 Jul 2021

Bricks without straw: The allies and the beachhead operations, November 1942 to January 1943
James Brien discusses how military learning and adaptation enabled allied victory during the WWII Beachhead Operations.
war-studies-seminar-series-the-quiet-war.png
Mon, 7 Jun 2021

The Quiet War: Censorship, propaganda and Australian prisoners of the Japanese
Emily Robertson examines how Australian authorities negotiated the complex strategic issues raised by Australian POWs and whether releasing stories of atrocities would assist or damage the war effort.