... made by NATO may be unpalatable for Moscow, but they are generally consistent and predictable. The same cannot be said of structures such as AUKUS
The establishment of a new trilateral military and political alliance consisting of the United States, Australia, and the UK (AUKUS) and the corollary rupture of France’s “contract of the century” to build a new generation of diesel-powered submarines for Australia elicited mixed reactions in Russia. Some were pleased to see a conflict arise between ...
... some reason in years to come, AUKUS may well mark a watershed
One of the biggest news stories of this year—both in terms of military-technological cooperation and in the geopolitical sense— seemingly appeared out of the blue last week. The U.S., Australia and the UK set up what was dubbed AUKUS, a military and political grouping, whose first publicly stated goal is to be the building of atomic submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Throughout the last decade, Australia has been actively ...
... this technology is another story). Instead, it went to the U.S. and UK to seek an alternative, without consideration for Paris that is now feeling the burn of deception and duplicity. This comes on top of significant economic losses, with impact on thousands of jobs in France.
Andrey Gubin:
The Indo-Pacific Conundrum: Why U.S. Plans Are Destined to Fail
The ire is even more acute vis à vis the American ally. Striking the AUKUS deal and accepting to sell SSN to Australia is a pure
realpolitik
move. The Biden administration has so far demonstrated that its systemic rivalry with China is informing its whole external policy. The frustration of an historic ally seems acceptable when it comes to the core U.S. interests: ...
In the wake of the AUKUS deal, France is more likely to enhance its military co-operation with India
France’s anger at the US-UK-Australia (AUKUS) deal to build nuclear submarines in Australia is palpable but understandable, since Australia has reneged on a multi-billion-euro contract signed with France to supply twelve submarines to Australia. In an unprecedented outburst, Jean-Yves ...
... trend is likely to continue in the near future. On the whole, the factors driving the Indo-Pacific strategy forward are clearly stronger than the constraints.
Prospects for the Squad-based Indo-Pacific
The political will of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia to foster the Indo-Pacific cooperation is increasing rather than weakening, which is the most important basis for further progress of the Indo-Pacific. Although the concept and objectives of the Indo-Pacific strategy of the four countries are ...
Interview with Peter Tesch, Ambassador of Australia to the Russian Federation
What are the features of Australia’s approach to the conception of Indo-Pacific? What perspectives does Australia see for the Quad? Is China mainly a partner or a competitor to Australia? What place should Russia ...
... Ukraine for the violence backfired, as ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France and others accused Russia of recklessness and violating Ukraine’s sovereignty”
This false narrative is already solidifying in Western media, including no doubt Australia.
Yet the facts are that the Ukrainian gambit was foolishly irresponsible, even suicidal. The crews are lucky their ships were not blown out of the water. Of course it would have been impossible for them to be allowed to sail unchallenged under ...
... host Pence simultaneously in Cairns – an insult to PNG – and to allow Pence to announce in the APEC meeting in PNG the Australia-US joint base to be built on PNG sovereign territory, was grossly insensitive and clumsy . These errors will cost us.
Australia seems under the faltering Morrison administration to be backing away from meaningful and mutually respectful engagement with our region at the rate of knots. First the continuing regional disaster over the Jerusalem Embassy gambit, now this Port Moresby debacle. We will know to our cost if this government in its remaining months manages comprehensively to alienate some of our most important historical partners in our Asian region.
Diplomatic relationships ...
... it signed the
Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Antarctic
with the United States to signify its partial refusal to consult on the Antarctic with the Latin American states. Meanwhile, the Antarctic may serve for Moscow for a tradeoff ... ... preconditions to have a firm footing there, as the Southern Hemisphere is dominated by the navies of the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. The only way to hypothetically upend this
hegemonic stability
seems to lie in resuming the struggle ...
...
identical to U.S.-China trade volume
. Therefore, the prospect of forming a united “anti-Chinese front” in Southeast Asia is less than likely.
The situation is complicated by the emergence of a new potential “regional hegemon” - Australia. Hugh White is confident that Canberra has an interest in maintaining the status quo, namely developing trade and economic relations with China, and strengthening the American military and political presence. However, given the steady growth ...