Australia and the new special relationship

The awkwardly-named AUKUS agreement reflects Washington’s escalating concern about China’s dominance in the Indo-Pacific. It signals London’s determination to be more, not less, involved in the global community after Brexit and the retreat from Afghanistan. Ultimately, however, this deal is about Australia. Few countries are as pivotal to regional security yet so poorly understood as such, at home and abroad, among commentators, politicians and policymakers. Australia’s standing in security terms is intimately linked to its alliance with the United States, but this relationship is not as one directional as some Australian critics believe. In defence and global security terms, Australia is a country with something to offer — quite a bit, actually — and AUKUS is another recognition of that.

There is a lot of romanticism and cynicism about Australia’s security relationship with the US. In political terms, the Aussie right prefers to focus on how the country fought alongside the Americans in World War II, the Cold War era ANZUS treaty and the close cooperation, intelligence-sharing and common values that undergird ‘the alliance’ (their version of ‘the special relationship’) that has been forged in the 75 years since.