Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies, volume 4 number 1

This issue starts by paying tribute to Brendan Sergeant and republishing his 2021 discussion paper, 'Challenges to the Australian strategic imagination', with an introduction from Greg Moriarty, Secretary of the Department of Defence. The AJDSS team are grateful for the support of Brendan's wife, Vaidehi, and his family, to Professor Toni Erskine, Director of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, and Dr Andrew Carr, editor of the Centre of Gravity series, for their permission to republishing this essay.

Next, Major General Chris Smith's article, 'Dogmatic application of effects-based thinking', argues that the Australian Defence Force's use of effects-based concepts presents a very real danger of leading the ADF down the path of failure.

The second article, from Colonel Mick Scott, focuses on the distinction between Australian defence strategy and military strategy.

In the third article, Dr Simon McKenzie considers some of the regulatory issues automated and autonomous digital technologies pose for ADF work health and safety arrangements.

The commentary section, features four very different essays. Senior fellow at the Centre for Defence Research, Matthew Sussex surveys Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine so far, his miscalculations and flawed assumptions, the prospects for a resolution and the implications the war may have on Putin's regime, European security and on great power contestation globally. Supporting the discussion of military strategy in Colonel Scott's article, Peter Layton outlines the fundamental characteristics of military strategy. In the third commentary piece, Captain Liz Daly raises the issue of how Army Health has been affected by the worldwide demand for and scarcity of healthcare workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact it has had on recruitment and suggests some potential solutions. The fourth commentary reviews the emerging threat posed by ransomware and importance of a whole-of-government approach to raising awareness and building cyber resilience across both the public and private sectors.

This issue also features two review essays. The first, from Mike Evans, is a considered examination of BA Freidman's recent book, On Operations: Operational Art and Military Disciplines.The second is historian David Walker's comparison of two very different views on Australia's 'China problem': Red Zone by Peter Hartcher and China Panic by David Brophy.

The issue concludes with a diverse selection of reviews, ranging from a book that marks the returned prominence of nuclear strategy, alliances and extended deterrence in contemporary international security policy debate to one that provides an important examination of the history of LGBTI personnel in Defence.

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