Global Axess 2024 - Mick Ryan: The Mobilisation Trinity: People, Industry, Ideas

Every responsible national government must achieve a balance of national prosperity and security. In the wake of the Cold War, this was a relatively simple task, as the threat of nuclear and large-scale conventional war receded, military budgets could be significantly reduced. In the past decade, however, the rise of Chinese and Russian power, and the resultant increase in instability in the global security environment, has meant that governments must now turn their attention to achieving a different 21stcentury balance of prosperity and security. Defence and intelligence budgets must inevitably rise to counter the threat of military, economic and information operations being conducted by an axis of authoritarians. To achieve this balance will require more than just re-apportioning government budgets. It will require a more holistic approach to mobilising national capacity to ensure not only that national sovereignty is preserved, but that democracy itself survives into the next century. As such, these efforts may necessitate a modern form of national mobilisation. The key elements and implications of national mobilisation (for deterrence primarily, but also for fighting wars if deterrence fails) will be explored through the lens of the ‘Mobilisation Trinity’: people, industry, and ideas.
Mick Ryan spent 35 years in the Australian Army. He was inaugural President of the Defence Entrepreneurs Forum (Australia) and is a member of the Military Writers Guild. He is an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, and a non-resident fellow of the Lowy Institute in Sydney. In January 2023 he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In 2023, his book White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan was published by Casemate Books. His latest book, The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire, was published in 2024 by Naval Institute Press.
Justin Oliver Webb is a British journalist who has worked for the BBC since 1984. He is a former BBC North America Editor and the main co-presenter of BBC one's Breakfast News programme. Since August 2009, he has co-presented the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and also regularly writes for the Radio Times.