The Big Fix

The character of war is constantly changing, and so too must the approach to national security. But Australia’s defence policy is broken. Successive governments have not approached the nation’s security with the intelligence, resoluteness and seriousness it requires. 

After more than 120 years of defence policy centred on dependency, the geopolitical situation demands new thinking by politicians and policymakers to secure the nation for the future. In light of technological progress, the shifting balance of power in the Pacific and the worsening danger of climate change, Australia needs a new approach in order to charts its own course.

In The Big Fix, defence strategist Albert Palazzo proposes a defence policy centred on the strategic defensive, which presents the best military fit for Australia, given its geography and the current state of military technology. Crucially, he elevates climate change to primacy in the national security hierarchy and explains how we cannot afford to ignore it as a security factor. And he asks: what is stopping Australia’s leaders from seriously considering other options for the nation’s security?

About the Author

Albert Palazzo is an adjunct professor at UNSW Canberra in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He was formerly the long-serving Director of War Studies for the Australian Army. He completed his PhD in military history at The Ohio State University, and published his dissertation as Seeking Victory on The Western Front: The British Army and Chemical Warfare in World War I. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he migrated to Australia in 1996 and commenced his career in the school of history at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He has written more than twenty books and monographs on the art of war, Australian military history and national security policy.