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Australian Interests and Strategy in Afghanistan
SDSC Conference, Old Parliament House, 5 March 2009
Now in its eighth year, the US-led war in Afghanistan is about to enter a new phase. The Obama Administration has made it clear that it looks to increase its military and political engagement in the country. At the same time, Western strategy for countering the insurgency is being revised in what now looks to be a ‘second surge'. While the Australian Defence Force has been operating in Afghanistan for several years, these developments will raise important questions for Australia as the United States looks to its allies to renew and increase their military, financial and political efforts. In coming months, Australia will thus need to review the scope and nature of its Afghanistan engagement, and re-balance interests and commitments, objectives and opportunity costs.

To work through these issues was the purpose of this one-day Afghanistan conference, organised by the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC). Moderated by Graeme Dobell and supported by questions and comments from the wider audience, a core group of high-ranking former officers, officials and academics carried the discussion forward to clarify Australian interests in Afghanistan and make recommendations on future policy and operational strategy.

A transcript of the proceedings of the conference is available here. [Conference transcript]

Meet the SDSC Team who bring expertise from a diverse range of fields and maintain ongoing contact with a number of agencies, corporate entities, media groupings and others. View Analysis and Commentary by members of the SDSC Team.

The SDSC's contribution to the public debate saw Canberra Paper 167 entitled History as Policy: Framing the debate on the future of Australia's defence policy formally book launched on 20 February 2008 by Professor Kim Beazley (former Leader of the Australian Labor Party and former Leader of the Opposition, and current Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia).

Foster regional dialogue and interactions on security questions
View the active seminar program which attracts highly-regarded speakers to link with others in reasoned debate. Papers delivered at the SDSC's 40th anniversary seminar series were published in December 2007. SDSC staff also often assist or are members of other security related organisations, such as the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP).

Publish top quality scholarly research
The SDSC produces a range of works derived from scholarly research in which authors air their opinions. Principal among these are those works offered in the Centre's Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence series (peer reviewed) and SDSC Working Paper series. Download/view the LATEST CANBERRA PAPER entitled Howard's Long March and the LATEST WORKING PAPER entitled Simple Solutions to Complex Matters

SDSC-based authors also publish regularly outside of either of these series, the two most recent offerings being Ron Huisken (ed), Rising China: Power and Reassurance, ANU E Press, Canberra, March 2009, http://epress.anu.edu.au/rising_china_citation.html; and Stephan Frühling, A History of Australian Strategic Policy since 1945 (incorporating the text of 15 strategic guidance documents), Defence Publishing Service, Canberra, 2009, http://www.defence.gov.au/strategicbasis/.

Deliver high-quality graduate teaching
The SDSC has an active PhD study program which includes the SIR ARTHUR TANGE PhD SCHOLARSHIPS IN STRATEGIC & DEFENCE POLICY. Alongside this program, the SDSC delivers the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence Program. This is the largest program in the country (and one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific) specialising in security issues. Contact Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence (GSSD) to learn more about the depth in educational opportunities on offer.