The forming of the Australia-UK-US (Aukus) military alliance in the Pacific shows how everything Trump can say, Biden can do. The problem is, Biden isn’t doing it very well.
Biden’s administration, like Trump’s, is committed to building its Pacific alliances while sustaining Nato. Yet on Australia as in Afghanistan, the Biden team are doing exactly what they accused Trump of: unpicking the frayed bonds of Nato without a clear idea of what might replace it.
The government has three tasks: to keep American workers at work, win contracts for American exports, and secure America’s interests overseas. Two cheers for Biden for getting the Trump memo on the first two points. But the Aukus deal is deaf to the third point, which is likely to harm America’s foreign interests.
When Tahiti goes nuclear, we can expect that French companies will win the contracts
Emanuel Macron has responded to Australia swapping French-made diesel submarines for American-made nuclear subs by treating the US like an enemy.
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