Australia’s options for defending itself are in the news with the release of Hugh White’s How to Defend Australia. Will it shake up thinking or is there is no appetite for change?

Hugh White should be praised for getting Australians to think the unthinkable and alerting them to our deteriorating strategic situation, the unreliability of US security assistance and the need to get on better with our neighbours.     

David Walker’s latest book is masterfully written, and also makes some interesting choices about what it does or doesn’t include.

Has Francis Fukuyama once again provided the key to making sense of the confusion going on around us, including in our own Asian — or Asia-Pacific, or Indo-Pacific — region?

In Thai Military Power: A Culture of Strategic Accommodation, Greg Raymond outlines the historical context and strategic thinking behind Thailand’s diplomatic and military posture.

In Eric Drummond and his Legacies: The League of Nations and the Beginnings of Global Governance, David Macfadyen, Michael DV Davies, Marilyn Norah Carr and John Burley bring together previous insights on the pioneering role of the League of Nations.

Benjamin Isakhan, Shamiran Mako and Fadi Dawood’s edited collection State and Society in Iraq is a timely volume reminding us of the dynamism and long-standing activism of Iraq’s diverse constituencies and their historical and ongoing resistance to state dictates.

Alyssa Ayres’ Our Time Has Come: How India is Making its Place in the World is an ambitious, evidence-packed and tightly argued celebration of India’s economic and political rise.

Eileen Chanin’s Capital Designs: Australia House and Visions of an Imperial London is a meticulously researched and illustrated account of the little-known history of the Australian High Commission in London.

In Bapak Angkatan Udara: Suryadi Suryadarma, Adityawarman Suryadarma gives a biographical account of his father’s life and career as the founder of Indonesia’s air force.