Kim Heriot-Darragh
@kimheriotdarragh.bsky.social
Researcher, Australia India Institute. Non-Resident Fellow at Council for Strategic and Defense Research. Interested in defence, strategy and international law. https://substack.com/@kimheriotdarragh
I’ve dusted off some guides prepared for colleagues and begun posting them on Substack.
They’re a bit different from my usual focus, but I hope they’re useful.
As always, I welcome feedback and corrections
They’re a bit different from my usual focus, but I hope they’re useful.
As always, I welcome feedback and corrections
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
I’ve dusted off some guides prepared for colleagues and begun posting them on Substack.
They’re a bit different from my usual focus, but I hope they’re useful.
As always, I welcome feedback and corrections
They’re a bit different from my usual focus, but I hope they’re useful.
As always, I welcome feedback and corrections
Regardless which stand you take, you’ll be more persuasive if you understand the rules in question. If you think FONOPs are only about strategic signalling, or supporting one country and deterring another, then you don’t understand them as well as you assume.
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Regardless which stand you take, you’ll be more persuasive if you understand the rules in question. If you think FONOPs are only about strategic signalling, or supporting one country and deterring another, then you don’t understand them as well as you assume.
The former speak a language that doesn’t easily translate without a lot of explanation. The latter can over-estimate their understanding. They’re dismissive of international law, or simplistic in their advocacy for it.
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
The former speak a language that doesn’t easily translate without a lot of explanation. The latter can over-estimate their understanding. They’re dismissive of international law, or simplistic in their advocacy for it.
Maritime disputes thrust international law into conversations about defence and strategy in recent years. But international lawyers and strategic analysts still talk past each other.
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Maritime disputes thrust international law into conversations about defence and strategy in recent years. But international lawyers and strategic analysts still talk past each other.
I guess I assumed parts of the US government were already using it 😬
November 9, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I guess I assumed parts of the US government were already using it 😬
Maybe you just wrote most of it?
November 7, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Maybe you just wrote most of it?
You’ve outdone yourself.
November 4, 2025 at 11:49 PM
You’ve outdone yourself.
It’s effective though because it sounds intuitive to someone who doesn’t follow the issues. We’re paying for our community’s general lack of interest in the region around us.
November 3, 2025 at 12:10 AM
It’s effective though because it sounds intuitive to someone who doesn’t follow the issues. We’re paying for our community’s general lack of interest in the region around us.
Also, don’t know if it’s just me but it feels weird to refer to the Philippines arbitration as a PCA case/judgement. It was an ad hoc arbitral tribunal. The PCA acted as the registry. Which flippantly means it provided a venue and record keeping. Not the actual legal judgements. Maybe I’m wrong 🤷♂️
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Also, don’t know if it’s just me but it feels weird to refer to the Philippines arbitration as a PCA case/judgement. It was an ad hoc arbitral tribunal. The PCA acted as the registry. Which flippantly means it provided a venue and record keeping. Not the actual legal judgements. Maybe I’m wrong 🤷♂️
On a pedantic level, in case anyone cares about Australian defence terminology, ‘joint’ means ‘more than one service’ (e.g. the Army and Navy doing something together). ‘Combined’ means ‘more than one country’ (what the article is referring to). What can I say, I’m indoctrinated.
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
On a pedantic level, in case anyone cares about Australian defence terminology, ‘joint’ means ‘more than one service’ (e.g. the Army and Navy doing something together). ‘Combined’ means ‘more than one country’ (what the article is referring to). What can I say, I’m indoctrinated.
The broader logic of this piece seems to be that might equals right. Any country can arbitrarily depart from what it agreed with the international community, and then declare that responses appear like military escalation. This sounds like extortion.
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
The broader logic of this piece seems to be that might equals right. Any country can arbitrarily depart from what it agreed with the international community, and then declare that responses appear like military escalation. This sounds like extortion.
🇦🇺 doesn’t have a formal position on who ‘owns’ many (all?) SCS islands. And ADF planes wouldn’t be entering within 12nm of them. So this argument is puzzling unless it’s proposing that all countries everywhere get more airspace than 12nm everywhere in the world.
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
🇦🇺 doesn’t have a formal position on who ‘owns’ many (all?) SCS islands. And ADF planes wouldn’t be entering within 12nm of them. So this argument is puzzling unless it’s proposing that all countries everywhere get more airspace than 12nm everywhere in the world.
I only invest my time writing about things that don’t matter
October 28, 2025 at 1:44 AM
I only invest my time writing about things that don’t matter
What a nerd
October 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
What a nerd
Whoa - that’s big!
October 26, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Whoa - that’s big!
I’m worried too; it’s easy to be insular and revert to familiar muscle movements. Australia retreats into itself when confronted or uncertain. Some of our reactions to the pandemic felt like that; same with anti-migration protests. I’m not sure we’re ready to abandon habits or embrace uncertainty.
October 22, 2025 at 3:06 AM
I’m worried too; it’s easy to be insular and revert to familiar muscle movements. Australia retreats into itself when confronted or uncertain. Some of our reactions to the pandemic felt like that; same with anti-migration protests. I’m not sure we’re ready to abandon habits or embrace uncertainty.
For so long we at least had a sense of the left and right arc of potential US foreign and defence policy decisions; it made filling in other parts of the puzzle slightly easier. It’s almost as though we’ve got to get better at our jobs now 😬
October 22, 2025 at 2:08 AM
For so long we at least had a sense of the left and right arc of potential US foreign and defence policy decisions; it made filling in other parts of the puzzle slightly easier. It’s almost as though we’ve got to get better at our jobs now 😬
We’re still working through some fascinating lines of analysis, thanks to our very engaged participants. More to come.
Our thanks to Defence Australia for its participation and support.
Our thanks to Defence Australia for its participation and support.
October 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
We’re still working through some fascinating lines of analysis, thanks to our very engaged participants. More to come.
Our thanks to Defence Australia for its participation and support.
Our thanks to Defence Australia for its participation and support.
The Quad remains as relevant as ever. But the US’s foreign and defence policy is less predictable than it once was. 🇦🇺 and 🇮🇳 may need to conduct defence cooperation that complements, but doesn’t assume, constant US participation or support.
October 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The Quad remains as relevant as ever. But the US’s foreign and defence policy is less predictable than it once was. 🇦🇺 and 🇮🇳 may need to conduct defence cooperation that complements, but doesn’t assume, constant US participation or support.
The strategic environment is moving fast - and not for the better. 🇦🇺 and 🇮🇳 can’t precisely forecast how their militaries may be asked to collaborate. But they can lay foundations for flexibility. Agility not rigidity; preparation not prediction.
October 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The strategic environment is moving fast - and not for the better. 🇦🇺 and 🇮🇳 can’t precisely forecast how their militaries may be asked to collaborate. But they can lay foundations for flexibility. Agility not rigidity; preparation not prediction.