In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by Dr Ross Babbage, CEO of Strategic Forum and senior non-resident fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

The pair discuss a range of subjects following Babbage's recent trip to the United States, including:

• Australia's need to prepare for a more direct involvement in kinetic regional conflict in the Indo-Pacific – including recognising that we are no longer on the periphery of geopolitical competition.
• The multidimensional depth and facets of the challenges being posed by the People's Republic of China: Babbage emphasises that China's strategy includes economic coercion, hybrid conflict and soft power, and that Western assumptions about China's integration leading to liberalisation have proven wrong.
• How Western governments have failed to effectively communicate the strategic risks to their populations: Babbage argues that public awareness is essential for national resilience and policy support, and that many in the public are willing to act once properly informed.
• Australia's urgent need to expand and rethink its defence and industrial capabilities to meet the growing expectations of the new US Trump administration.

Enjoy the Podcast, The Defence Connect team