This publication contains a collection of analytical essays on Japan’s and Australia’s respective approaches to geopolitics, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the overlay of democracy on development and diplomacy towards those subregions.

There is growing agreement between Australia, India, Japan and the United States that as China rises in Asia, the rules-based order needs strengthening and defending; but does the revived Security Quadrilateral Dialogue have any real prospect of rebalancing relationships in the region? Lavina Lee explains.

This paper argues that democracy promotion ought to be an essential component of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy — a strategy that is being promoted by the United States, Australia, Japan and, increasingly, India, albeit with national differences in approaches and emphasis.