Gregory Poling contends China’s coercive actions in the South China Sea—once effective—now fail to intimidate ASEAN states. Pushback has grown via diplomacy, modernization, and alliances; shifting the regional strategic balance

The APS is fostering a ‘speak up’ culture using the ‘4Cs’ behavioural framework—compassion, curiosity, candour, courage—to embed psychological and psychosocial safety across agencies, enabling mental wellbeing and organisational integrity.

Billions are lost when human behaviour is overlooked in major projects—conflict, disengagement and misalignment derail outcomes. Leaders often avoid conflict and uncomfortable truths. Project guardians could ensure people are managed as rigorously as budgets/timelines.

The new $500m agreement with Vanuatu highlights how smaller nations can reshape regional partnerships—leveraging climate priorities, mobility demands, and strategic competition—to secure significant concessions and long-term influence. Diplomatic sway has now shifted.

Recent military operations have blurred tactical execution with strategic messaging by releasing operational visuals, drone footage, and mission graphics. This convergence shows warfare becoming performative—where operations inherently include communication as a key component.

Trauma - informed leadership is essential for modern organisations. By integrating emotional awareness with operational strategy, HR can proactively support employees’ psychological safety, resilience and growth; boosting retention, performance and long-term organisational health.

Our eyes are increasingly exposed to intense light—from headlights and billboards, to screens. This glare may endanger long-term eye health, including vision deterioration, due to concentrated brightness over compact areas.

Airborne autonomy offers speed, persistence and safer missions—transforming seaborne operations by combining advanced technology with existing systems to extend reach, reduce costs and strengthen decision-making in increasingly contested environments.

The US drone crashed after a critical propeller ring failed—highlighting risks of mechanical fatigue and the challenges of preventing early component wear in advanced unmanned systems. The drone hadn’t reached its scheduled overhaul time.

Perfectionism, the relentless pursuit of perfection, is widely encouraged by supervisors. This can actually lead to underachievement and burnout, lost productivity, increased turnover, and the systematic suppression of innovation and risk-taking.