The TPNW's Place in the Pacific

10 Nov 2023 | APLN

10 November 2023

This week, John Tilemann expands on why it’s time for Australia to return to an active nuclear diplomacy, we welcome two new members to our network, and we review where Pacific nations stand on the TPNW now that the Pacific Islands Forum has concluded its 52nd meeting.

We also highlight activities from our network, including analysis on a wide range of issues, from credible No First Use models to India’s cyber vulnerabilities.

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Indo-Pacific Nuclear Diplomacy: A Call to Revive Australian Leadership

In a new commentary, John Tilemann stresses the seriousness of the nuclear threat in the Asia-Pacific and urges Prime Minister Albanese to retake the reins of the global arms control agenda and revive Australia’s nuclear diplomacy.

The commentary follows the recent APLN open letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in which fifteen Australian network members called on Albanese to prioritize nuclear diplomacy and uphold the commitments made at the Shangri-La Dialogue earlier this year.

The commentary expands on Tilemann’s piece published last week in the Lowy Interpreter.

Read the commentary

APLN is pleased to welcome two new members to our senior network:

Dr. Huong Le Thu (Vietnam), Deputy Director of the Asia Program at the International Crisis Group.
Dr. Adil Sultan (Pakistan), Dean of the Faculty of Aerospace and Strategic Studies at the Air University, Islamabad.

See all members

The TPNW in the Pacific

As the Pacific Islands Forum convenes its 52nd meeting this week in the Cook Islands, we look at where the Pacific nations stand on Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in the run up to the second Meeting of States Parties from November 27 to December 1.

To make things easy, we’ve created an infographic that explains which states have acceded to the treaty, which have not yet ratified, and which are opposed. This infographic was produced as part of our project on Nuclear Disarmament and the Anthropocene: Voices from Pacific Island Countries.

See the infographic

APLN has over 150 members from 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific.
Each week we feature their latest contributions
to global and regional security debates.

See all member activities

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Anticipating Albanese: Chinese Perspective of the Australia-China Relationship and Future Prospects

Chen Dongxiao, President of the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, was interviewed by Asia Society. He discussed Australia-China relations from China’s perspective and offered invaluable suggestions as to how the two countries can strengthen their bilateral relationship.

Preventing AI Nuclear Armageddon

Melissa Parke, Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), wrote about the dangers of applying artificial intelligence to nuclear-weapons systems and advocates for countries not only to avoid applying AI to nuclear weapons, but to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely.

Reducing Nuclear Risks: Envisioning a Regional Strategy

Marianne Hanson, ICAN Australia Co-Chair, joined Prof. Andrew O’Neil and Dr. Benjamin Zala in a webinar moderated by Graeme Dobell. They discussed what a regional agenda for mitigating nuclear risk could look like, and how the Asia-Pacific can carve out an effective and inclusive strategy.

It’s Time to Talk About No First Use

Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote for Foreign Policy and argued that exploring credible No First Use models can lead to more substantive nuclear arms control and strategic risk reduction talks.

India’s Cyber Vulnerabilities Grow

Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy, and Technology, wrote for the Diplomat about India’s growing cyber vulnerabilities. She argued that unless India makes cybersecurity and security of information and data a priority, the consequences will be severe.

At India-US meeting, the looming question of China’s not-so-subtle maritime assertiveness

C. Uday Bhaskar, Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), New Delhi, argued that the ultimate outcome of the US-China contest will be influenced by the nature and substance of the bilateral relationships that both of these nations have with India. He says that the upcoming 2+2 meeting leading to the Quad summit could play a crucial role in this regard.

How Communist Party of Vietnam Achieves ‘Quantum Leaps’ in Vietnam-US Relations

Hoang Thi Ha, Senior Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, wrote on Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s ‘Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy’ and argued that this concept is not altogether new but has been riding on her political ascendency and Vietnam’s geopolitical fortunes.

Anwar Ibrahim’s Quiet Triumph

Kishore Mahbubani, former Singaporean Ambassador to the United Nations, published his latest column in Project Syndicate, detailing the rise of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and what this means for Malaysia and the region.

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