Babbage's thesis is to dismember

It is good to know that in a rapidly changing strategic environment, some things do not change. Like Ross Babbage's thinking on dismemberment.

Here is an excerpt from his 1978 Doctoral thesis, which observes that Australia should consider (he does not expressly recommend) a global strategic deterant capacity (nuclear weapon) capable to "tear a limb off" a superpower aggressor (read, Soviet union). For the record, Dismemberment in normal english means 'deter by being able to so damage the oppopent as to make any operation against Australia too costly to consider' (my paraphrase). (...and are't we that already?)

Arm ripping returns in his response to the 2008 Defense White paper, as Dobell notes here.

An in current Kokoda Paper he advocates for "asymmetric operations against China, host American bases, develop long range persistent strike capabilities and acquire nuclear attack submarines." Which is to say, a strategy premised on damaging so badly the superpower aggressor (now read China) as to deter attack aka Dismemberment.

Now the circle is complete

http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/?d=D%20-%20Ross%20Babbage%20and%20Australia%27s%20strategic%20edge