Security in the Indo-Pacific

On-campus & remote (online) learning available. Students participate in interactive, real-time classes. 2026 class dates: National security is about the nexus of international and domestic security, and Australia’s security is bound up with its region, increasingly defined by governments as the Indo-Pacific. This course thus introduces students to the challenges and choices facing national security policy-makers in an era of connectivity and contestation across the Pacific and Indian oceans. The debate about the Indo-Pacific as a coherent regional framework will be introduced, along with implications for the security interests of key regional powers, notably China, India, Japan, Indonesia, the United States and Australia. The interstate and transnational dimensions of Indo-Pacific security challenges will be considered, including how risks related to climate change, maritime resource management, pandemics and piracy connect with interstate competition. In keeping with the National Security College signature pedagogy, this course will integrate academic expertise and the perspectives of senior policy practitioners. It will draw on resident expertise in National Security College and Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. The course will conclude with a geopolitical risk scenario, in which students represent the national security interests of multiple countries to present policy responses that integrate strategic, economic, diplomatic and narrative dimensions. This 3-unit course also serves to introduce students to options for deeper study on related topics in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.