Latika M Bourke
@latikambourke
Writer-at-Large for @thenightlyau Subscribe: http://www.latikambourke.com Associate Expert at @ANU_NSC Blue-ticked before Elon. 📧 [email protected]
✔ New Year, new ventures. 🖊️ Launching my Substack 🙋♀️ Thoughts, ideas, commissions welcome 🔗 latika.me/latikambourkeS…
Feels a bit poor form. Defence Secretary John Healey was supposed to be keynote speaker at the Chief of the Air Staff's Global Air and Space Chiefs' conference and Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard showed up citing the 'news' that the Labour govt inherited for keeping Healey…
My latest report for The Nightly. NATO's Director of Nuclear Policy Jim Stokes warns China's nuclear build-up poses a dual deterrence threat to the United States. Comes as SACEUR warns of possible two-front war, by 2027. Read here: latika.me/4kPHirq
'The dire economic conditions have given rise to xenophobia in certain quarters, with some voters feeling they are being pushed aside as foreigners purchase real estate, overwhelm tourist spots and spend lavishly in restaurants and department stores.' latika.me/450PJdr
🎙️ Latest episode is out. This week is a @GLOBSEC special -- I interview @NATO's Director of Nuclear Policy Jim Stokes, about the future of NATO, the nuclear deterrent and how NATO's partners should deal with a rapidly nuclear-arming China. 🎧 Listen on all podcast apps and…
Just finished editing next podcast episode. Out tomorrow morning!
My reading list this week: 🧢 @JonasYDu on MAGA's young, hot summer 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 @NATO warns of a two-front China/Russia war in 2027 🚗 Xi's rare admission on EV over-supply 🇪🇺 @EuropeanCommission departs from G7 in lowering Russian oil cap 🇯🇵 Japan releases defence strategy Full…
Colby as SecDef.... 👀
Lots of chatter here at #AspenSecurity on the competition to replace SecDef Hegseth. Several sources said top 3 contenders are Army Secretary Dan Driscoll (JD Vance’s Yale Law classmate), Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby & former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
Good of Bob Carr to say it out loud at least.
Two, from Chinese-background voters lost to the Coalition at the last 2 federal elections. Look at the results in Bennelong and Reid and 6-8 other seats.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on a six-day trip to China says he doesn't want 'disagreements' to define the bilateral relationship.
🆕from me. I wrote about why MAGA's belief that it can bully the Indo-Pacific allies on defence spending in the same way it did NATO may be misguided. Read it in @thenightlyau: latika.me/MAGAIndoPacific
MAGA eating itself is as 🍿 as when the left do it. (ofc it is essentially the same thing)
MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine. MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.
The way China references Trump and the US is becoming like the way we used to pretend things weren't about China, ie. never say their name out loud despite everyone knowing who you were talking about.
You can take Melania out of Europe, but you can't take Europe out of Melania.
Cost of AUKUS submarines too expensive to defend ourselves says Peter Varghese. afr.com/policy/foreign…
Serious cold water on expanding AUKUS from Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles here.
Bob Geldof on why he couldn't do a Live Aid for Palestine. Read more here: latika.me/4kFNOke