A good deal of copy has been written about the Australia-US alliance over the past decade, but almost all of it, naturally enough, described the alliance as it developed under the stewardship of conservative leaders in Washington and Canberra. Now the alliance is in the hands of a Democratic president and a Labor prime minister.

This Lowy Institute Perspective sets out the views of two analysts, one American, Michael O'Hanlon, and one Australian, Michael Fullilove, on the developing relationship between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the kind of alliance over which they will preside.