Title: Australia-US Alliance Since the Pivot: Consolidation and Hedging in Response to China’s Rise
Abstract: This chapter takes stock of the Australia-US alliance since President Obama famously announced America’s Pivot to Asia in Canberra in late 2011 and, more recently, the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Strategy published in early 2019. It reviews the major programs and developments, discusses their significance in terms of the impacts on Australian foreign and security policy, US’ rebalancing and the alliance’s role, and the ramifications on regional security and Australia’s relationship with China. It argues that both the Labour and Coalition governments have placed significant premium on, and will continue to keep, the alliance on the top of its agenda in the coming years, with specific emphasis on force interoperability, access for US forces and military personnel to Australian facilities, joint intelligence and surveillance, and joint responses to contingencies in the region, especially where Australia can make real contributions such as natural disasters, humanitarian assistance, and special force operations. At the same time, there are noticeable differences between Labour and Coalition governments regarding how best to deal with the rise of China and the attendant geoeconomic and geostrategic challenges. These include Canberra’s serious concerns with the Trump administration’s commitment and ability to sustain the rebalance to the region, as well as Australia’s own capacity to overcome budgetary constraints given the weak economy. With the Morrison government reelected in May 2019, and with an increasingly competitive relationship between Australia’s two most consequential partners—China and the United States, Canberra will have to manage the unenviable task of keeping a delicate balance between alliance solidarity with the United States and its economic bottom line, which depends on maintaining a stable relationship with China, a task that will continue after the Biden administration takes over in Washington.
Publication Year: 2021
Publication Date: 2021-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 1
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot