Contested Ground

Each and every day, the world is becoming more unpredictable, yet Australia continues with the post-Cold War status quo. As things continue to deteriorate, we're going to have to ask ourselves some particularly confronting questions.
Australia and its allies are entering an "age of chaos" in which the assumptions that shaped the post-Cold War order are rapidly breaking down.
Rather than dealing with isolated crises that can be managed and resolved individually, governments, militaries, and societies are now confronting overlapping and mutually reinforcing disruptions, including strategic competition, technological upheaval, economic fragmentation, supply chain vulnerability, and the rise of networked authoritarian powers.
Central to Australia's response is understanding the distinction between traditional "crisis management" and "chaos management". Crisis management assumes stability will eventually return and institutions can revert to previous norms once a disruption passes. Chaos management, by contrast, accepts that instability, uncertainty, and persistent competition are now enduring features of the strategic environment.
In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by expert defence and security analyst and White House veteran Robbin Laird to discuss the impact of the emergence of the era of disruption.
This only becomes more important and pivotal as we grapple with the reality that the international system is no longer defined by uncontested Western dominance, nor is it returning to a simple Cold War-style bipolar structure.
Rather, the world is evolving into a fragmented and highly interconnected environment where economic dependency and geopolitical rivalry coexist simultaneously, particularly between the United States and China. This creates strategic complexity for middle powers such as Australia, whose decisions on defence, trade, industrial policy, and alliances will increasingly shape the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
Australia's response to this is recognising the growing importance of resilience and sovereign capability. The author argues that efficiency and globalisation can no longer be the sole priorities for democratic nations if they undermine strategic security. Supply chains, industrial capacity, digital infrastructure, and technological innovation are increasingly viewed as national security issues rather than purely economic considerations.
In this context, adaptability, redundancy, and the ability to rapidly regenerate capability are presented as critical determinants of national power. Ultimately, democratic nations must rethink how they approach leadership, preparedness, and strategy in a world defined by accelerating disruption.
Rather than attempting to restore an increasingly obsolete status quo, governments and institutions must develop the capacity to operate effectively amid prolonged uncertainty, while strengthening alliances, industrial resilience, and societal cohesion to navigate an increasingly contested global order.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground Team

The release and messaging surrounding the 2026 National Defence Strategy and 2026 Integrated Investment Program is just the latest salvo in the government's effort to direct the national conversation about our national security.
With the government emphasising major increases in Defence spending over the next decade, the government is hoping that the headline figures and a lack of public understanding of Defence spending will be enough to convince the nation we're doing enough to protect our interests.
Hosts Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson and Steve Kuper deep dive into the current battle for control of the narrative and the unfolding strategies being leveraged to target various Australian demographics, with specific examples in the economic domain as Australians face increasing inflation and fuel insecurity despite what they're being told.
The trio also unpack the latest announcements around the winds of change sweeping through the Department of Defence, with the recent appointments to chief of Defence, chief of Army and the appointment of the new secretary of Defence designed to emphasise the government's priority areas: national resilience and sovereignty.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground team

We are consistently reminded that Australia is a maritime trading nation and, as such, is exposed to all the vulnerabilities. So why haven't we prepared accordingly?

As the ceasefire in the Middle East collapses and both sides begin to once again ramp up their efforts to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz and the globally sensitive waterway, Australia is reminded of its inherent vulnerability to global maritime shocks.
To date, Australia's response to these challenges has been to default to the organs and institutions established by the post-World War II order, seeking arbitration, mediation and resolution, however, those mechanisms no longer suffice.
In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by UNSW's Professor Douglas Guilfoyle and Associate Professor Daniel Prior, authors of the World in Transition report detailing the challenges which face Australia and now thrown into public focus as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
The trio deep dive into the legal, economic and political challenges that have emerged as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and Australia's mounting issues that will only continue to compound in the coming months.
They also discuss the ramifications of post-Cold War globalisation and the creation and vulnerability of the "just in time" supply chain ecosystems and what can be done to minimise our exposure to these challenges.
Finally, they also interrogate the phenomena of "friendshoring" and "reshoring" as solutions to bringing supply chains closer to home as a means of securing national interests and what models can be leveraged to change Australia's self-inflicted vulnerability.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground team

The war in the Middle East has served to reveal the now metastising vulnerabilities that permeate Australia's economic, political and strategic ecosystems, leaving the nation and its interests exposed.

Australians are increasingly getting the sense that the country is rudderless, struggling to overcome the mounting swell that is serving to swamp our seemingly ill-prepared national "boat".
In the latest episode of the special Contested Ground series unpacking the fallout and implications of the conflict in the Middle East, host Steve Kuper is joined by geostrategic analyst and former Defence policymaker Marc Ablong PSM as they interrogate the nation's preparedness, the era of polycrisis and mobilisation in the modern era.
As part of this, the pair deep dive into what makes a "polycrisis" and why it feels like Australia and Australians are seemingly paddling from one storm to another, both at home and abroad, undermining our national resilience and the nation's capacity to rally in the event of major regional crisis.
They then move on to dissect the challenges of contemporary mobilisation being faced by Australia and like-minded nations across Europe and the United Kingdom, specifically the issues surrounding social cohesion, economic, political and social dislocation and atomisation among young Australians that directly impact national security and resilience.
Finally, the pair discuss Australia's glaring lack of compelling narrative and plan to rally Australians of all generations that leave many feeling like Australia is inescapably caught in a period of managed decline, at a time when the nation's economic, political and strategic security and prosperity faces increasing tension and challenge.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground team

Australia has long prided itself on being the "Lucky Country", celebrating a culture of "she'll be right" now that a national culture of apathy is biting at home as the world continues to burn.
As the war in the Middle East continues to rage by the day, Australia and Australians are beginning to feel the very real ramifications in our daily lives.
All of this comes as Australia's political leaders and policymakers continue to point fingers at one another for the respective failures over the past three decades that have all combined to leave Australia dangerously exposed to the shocks of the new multipolar world.
But these aren't the only challenges that are serving to leave Australia in a volatile, unpredictable position, as social cohesion, industrial and economic resilience and demographics combine to create a powder keg for both the public and its policymakers.
Host Steve Kuper is joined by Ben Dullroy of Beaten Zone Venture Partners and Bravo Delta Advisory as they break down the combination of global and domestic factors shaping the nation's resilience, stability and security.
This conversation comes at a time when the public and private debate continues about who has failed the nation, were the ultimate costs of neoliberal hyperglobalisation worth it and can we pivot quickly enough to secure our economic, political and strategic interests?
Enjoy the podcast,
The Contested Ground team