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As the Australian Defence Force enters the second quarter of the twenty-first century, the profession of arms is at a crossroads between revival or decline. This has occurred because of the culmination of weak intellectual and philosophical foundations in the nation's military profession.
The bureaucratic officer corps is confronted by a lack of warfighting expertise, and low defence spending, alongside an array of occupational pressures from outsourcing and contracting. A crisis in recruitment and retention is emblematic of the military's declining appeal.
In a deteriorating global strategic environment, weak military professional foundations represent a constraint on the Australian Defence Force's ability to engage in high-intensity conventional warfare.
AIIA ACT invites you to join us in-person or online for a presentation by Emeritus Professor Michael Evans. Join us from 5:30pm for pre-presentation drinks and nibbles.
If you have any accessibility/dietary requirements or need to contact the ACT Branch, please email act.branch@internationalaffairs.org.au or call us on 0403 932 571.
Agenda
- Food + Drinks
- Presentation by Michael Evans
Michael Evans
Emeritus Professor at Deakin UniversityMichael Evans is Emeritus Professor of Military Studies at Deakin University, Canberra. He also holds international positions as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Washington DC, and as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the New Zealand Defence College, Trentham.
More information about speaker
Born in Wales, and educated in Rhodesia, England and Australia, Professor Evans holds a BA History Hons (Rhodesia), an MA War Studies (King’s College London) and a PhD from The University of Western Australia. He held Fellowships at the University of York in England, the University of Cape Town, and the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy where he is an Adjunct Professor.
Professor Evans’ saw military service in Africa and he was a regular officer in the post-civil war Zimbabwe National Army where he worked alongside the British Army in the integration of two rival guerrilla armies into a conventional land force. From 1995-2023, he held several senior positions in the Australian Department of Defence including the General Sir Francis Hassett Chair of Military Studies (2013-23), the Command Fellowship at the Australian Defence College (2007-12); the Australian Army’s research and analysis organisation (2001-06); and responsibility for the
Australian Defence Force’s short course professional development program (2013-23). He is currently working on the development of an Army Profession for the Chief of Army.
His publications include 'Vincible Ignorance: Reforming Australian Professional Military Education for the Demands of the Twenty-First Century' (2023); 'Civil-Military Relations in Australia: Past, Present and Future' (2021), and 'The Tyranny of Dissonance: Australia’s Strategic Culture and Way of War, 1901-2005' (2005).
- Q & A
Michael EvansMichael Evans
Emeritus Professor at Deakin UniversityMichael Evans is Emeritus Professor of Military Studies at Deakin University, Canberra. He also holds international positions as a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Washington DC, and as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the New Zealand Defence College, Trentham.
More information about speaker
Born in Wales, and educated in Rhodesia, England and Australia, Professor Evans holds a BA History Hons (Rhodesia), an MA War Studies (King’s College London) and a PhD from The University of Western Australia. He held Fellowships at the University of York in England, the University of Cape Town, and the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy where he is an Adjunct Professor.
Professor Evans’ saw military service in Africa and he was a regular officer in the post-civil war Zimbabwe National Army where he worked alongside the British Army in the integration of two rival guerrilla armies into a conventional land force. From 1995-2023, he held several senior positions in the Australian Department of Defence including the General Sir Francis Hassett Chair of Military Studies (2013-23), the Command Fellowship at the Australian Defence College (2007-12); the Australian Army’s research and analysis organisation (2001-06); and responsibility for the
Australian Defence Force’s short course professional development program (2013-23). He is currently working on the development of an Army Profession for the Chief of Army.
His publications include 'Vincible Ignorance: Reforming Australian Professional Military Education for the Demands of the Twenty-First Century' (2023); 'Civil-Military Relations in Australia: Past, Present and Future' (2021), and 'The Tyranny of Dissonance: Australia’s Strategic Culture and Way of War, 1901-2005' (2005).
