By Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith*
The central guidance in the defence strategic review is the introduction of the concept of deterrence by denial. (Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Interpreter) I and my co-author Richard Brabin-Smith argued for acceptance of this concept in May 2021 in an ASPI publication titled Deterrence through denial: a strategy for an era of reduced warning time. We maintained that deterrence was more likely to work if Australia had a more certain ability to deny an attacker its military objectives. Solid deterrence provides a hedge against surprise, raises the cost to an adversary of action against our interests and, if sufficient, makes an enemy’s attack irrational.
