CONTESTED GROUND: Fortune favours the bold – building a national security strategy for the 21st century, with Marc Ablong

When Opposition Leader Angus Taylor announced a Coalition government would develop and implement a national security strategy, many shouted, "Finally!", but delivering a strategy that is fit for purpose is more political than most would think. Since the release of the nation's first whole-of-nation national security strategy in 2013, successive Australian governments have sought to mask the nation's lack of preparedness with individual but isolated strategies from across government. Championed tirelessly but ultimately unsuccessfully by the late Jim Molan, a national security strategy has often been viewed as solely the remit of a narrow clique of public policy professionals with access to security briefings and the levers of power. But as host Steve Kuper and geostrategic analyst Marc Ablong unpack, a truly encompassing, whole-of-nation national security strategy presents immense opportunities not just for the nation but also for the political party that recognises the challenges we face need to be overcome. This conversation comes at a time when political upheaval, atomisation and social cohesion continue to challenge established and insurgent political movements at home and across the broader Western world. The pair discuss the immense opportunity for the political party that understands and develops a strategy incorporating a distinct and inescapable but seemingly forgotten factor: national security begins with the individual. They discuss just what makes a "good" national security strategy in the modern context, the lessons Australia can learn from the Scandinavian nations, the United States and other like-minded countries that have recognised the challenges and opportunities presented by the return of multipolar, great power competition. Finally, they discuss a question, only just starting to re-emerge in the public and political consciousness: "What sort of country do we want Australia to be?" Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team