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Peter Hartcher

Peter Hartcher is the political editor and international editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a Gold Walkley award winner, a former foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Washington, and a visiting fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. His latest book is The Sweet Spot: How Australia Made its Own Luck and Could Now Throw it All Away. His 2005 book, Bubble Man: Alan Greenspan and the Missing Seven Trillion Dollars, foresaw the collapse of the US housing market and the economic slump that followed.

Illustration: Dionne Gain

'Caliphate' closer than we thought

Australia has 1000 troops in the Middle East and a squadron of jets fighting to crush the "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq. It's time for Australia to take extra precautions nearer home.