| This week, we welcome Michael Tene to the APLN network. Aina Turillazzi examines how AI is reshaping the Australian Defence Force under the 2024 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program. And we share an update from our Kuala Lumpur conference for the Asia Dialogue on China-US Relations.
As always, we highlight recent activities from our network, including analyses on the US-Israeli war on Iran, the possibility of a US-North Korea summit, China’s military presence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and US-Southeast Asia relations. |
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APLN is pleased to welcome Ambassador Michael Tene as our newest network member. A senior Indonesian diplomat, he has served at Indonesian Embassies in London and Washington DC, and held key roles, including Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.
He later joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he served as Deputy Secretary-General for Community and Corporate Affairs, and subsequently as Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Political-Security Community.
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Artificial Intelligence in the Australian Defence Forces: Strengthening Denial, Managing Escalation
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Aina Turillazzi examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the Australian Defence Force under the 2024 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, where AI is largely financed through the same machinery that funds connectivity, data infrastructure, and command and control. AI could strengthen decision advantage and deterrence, but also raises new escalation risks in crisis settings. To mitigate these risks, Turillazzi argues that the policy task is not to slow adoption, but to ensure AI holds up under crisis pressure, and outlines four strategic shifts to build a more controllable AI-enabled force.
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Asia Dialogue on China-US Relations: The Shifting Trajectories of Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific
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On 28-29 April, APLN hosted a conference in Kuala Lumpur as part of its project on Asia Dialogue on China-US Relations and its implications for regional stability. Participants discussed the shifting nature of US-China relations, how regional states are both responding to and shaping these developments, and the growing role of minilaterals and multilaterals in building stability in the Asia-Pacific.
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APLN has over 180 members from 24 countries in the Asia-Pacific.
Each week, we feature their latest contributions
to global and regional security debates.
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| Chung-in Moon, APLN Vice Chair, was interviewed by The American Conservative, where he shared his insights on what lessons Pyongyang might draw from the conflict in the Middle East, the possibility of a US–North Korea summit, and whether a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula remains a plausible objective. |
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| HMGS Palihakkara, former Sri Lankan Ambassador to United Nations, wrote for Inter Press Service (IPS), analysing the ironies and tragedies of the war in Iran in the context of the NPT regime, as well as the multiple dangers of prioritising war over diplomacy in the name of non-proliferation. |
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| Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Resident Senior Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), co-wrote an op-ed for The Diplomat with Joe Keary and Linus Cohen, examining how China has normalised its maritime presence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. |
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| Hoang Thi Ha, Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, co-wrote a paper with Eugene R.L. Tan, arguing that under the second Trump administration, the hollowing out of expertise, soft power, and people-to-people connections risks weakening both US policy effectiveness and the long-term foundations of US–Southeast Asia relations. |
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