The policymaking apparatus behind the AUKUS security pact was shoddy from the start. It has raised questions about the extent US power will subordinate Australia further in future conflicts; it has brought into question Australia’s own sovereignty; and it has also raised the spectre of regional nuclear proliferation via the use of otherwise closely guarded…
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong recently made a visit to Beijing, China. Although the visit was diplomatic protocol, it was nonetheless significant because it symbolizes a shift of sorts in Canberra’s foreign policy towards China, one which began with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Xi Jinping at G20 a month ago. Having undergone a…
On December 6, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles. It was the 32nd occasion the countries had met in this setting. The Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) is really a chat fest held between Australian…
One way or another, whichever decision it makes will be zero-sum. Indonesia will either risk creating the pretext for China to potentially react through economic means to newfound AUKUS-led regional security threats “passively facilitated” by that archipelago or it’ll literally place itself in the military crosshairs of that anti-Chinese alliance’s contingency planning. The emerging powers…
The Russian leader correctly pinpointed the US’ modus operandi when it comes to its attempted “deterrence” (“containment”) of China, which he strongly implied revolves around the dual military-strategic cores of AUKUS and the emerging US-Japan-Republic of Korea trilateral. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a detailed speech about International Relations on Friday ahead of his country’s…
Three and a half months after the change of government in Australia, a country of considerable geopolitical significance in the Indo-Pacific region, the developments in its foreign policy can be fairly accurately summarized, in the words of the above headline, as “no change.” That is despite the attempts (which, in reality, consist of promising words,…
