PODCAST: Australia’s Echidna Strategy, with Sam Roggeveen, Lowy Institute

Joint-capabilities
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By: Robyn Tongol

In this episode of the Defence Connect podcast, senior analyst Steve Kuper is joined by Sam Roggeveen, director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, to discuss the Echidna Strategy in the context of great power competition.

In this episode of the Defence Connect podcast, senior analyst Steve Kuper is joined by Sam Roggeveen, director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, to discuss the Echidna Strategy in the context of great power competition.

 
 

The pair begin the podcast discussing Roggeveen’s career working across Australia’s defence and foreign policy apparatus, including with the Office of National Assessments, Defence Intelligence Organisation, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs.

The pair then discuss the politics of Roggeveen’s first book – Our Very Own Brexit: Australia’s Hollow Politics and Where it Could Lead Us – and the implications domestic political polarisation and collapsing support for the major parties will have on Australia’s future position and security in the Indo-Pacific.

The pair then discuss the historic basis of Australia’s defence policy and doctrine, beginning with the Forward Defence doctrine, then moving through the Defence of Australia-era to the current incarnation, as identified through the Defence Strategic Review, and the implications of major decisions like the AUKUS submarines.

Finally, the pair discuss Roggeveen’s latest book, The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace, the basis for its central thesis, the implications for Australia’s defence posture and force structure as the nation seeks power and peace in the era of great power competition.

Enjoy the podcast
The Defence Connect team

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Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:

Episode 11: CONTESTED GROUND: Weak, vulnerable, backwater – Australia’s choice between strategic camps and managed decline
Episode 10: PODCAST: Undersea dominance – Australia charts the maritime future through autonomous systems and AUKUS innovation
Episode 9: PODCAST: Australian Army Cadets pathways, submarine industry growth and Australia’s fuel security
Episode 8: CONTESTED GROUND: The blind faith factor – why Australians trust an ADF they don’t understand
Episode 7: PODCAST: Defence preparedness, artificial intelligence productivity, and Australian industrial resilience
Episode 6: CONTESTED GROUND: Shots fired! Chinese missile test shatters Australia’s ‘fog of peace’, with Mike Pezzullo
Episode 5: SPOTLIGHT: Counter-drone innovation, directed energy and delivering operational outcomes, with EOS Defence Systems’ Lee Kormany
Episode 4: PODCAST: Strengthening security ties, Fiji defence pact and Australia’s counter-drone push
Episode 3: CONTESTED GROUND: Lessons from the UK in political polarisation, generational dislocation and intergenerational warfare, with Ben Dullroy, Bravo Delta Advisory
Episode 2: PODCAST: Defence Industry Development Strategy, Defence reform and Australians fighting in Ukraine