Military alliances
NARROWER TERMS
Report
'An incomplete project': Australians' views of the US alliance
The alliance with the United States remains the single most important element in Australia’s approach to managing strategic change in the Indo-Pacific. The authors of this report argue that as Australia adapts to an altered security landscape, it is more important than ever to look...
Report
US midterms 2022: the stakes for Australia and the alliance
Regardless of the outcome of the mid-term elections in the United States, the new Congress ultimately will both enable and constrain the policy-making necessary to execute lofty US and allied goals as the era of strategic competition continues unabated. The authors of this survey report...
Report
Marles’ Defence Strategic Review—an exploding suitcase of challenges to resolve by March 2023
Stephen Smith and Angus Houston have an enormous amount to do and almost no time to do it. Prime Minister Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles have chosen them to be the independent heads of the Defence Strategic Review. This paper sets out the...
Fact sheet
Fact Check: Anthony Albanese says Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to Ukraine. Is that correct?
Anthony Albanese says Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to Ukraine. Verdict: doesn't stack up.
Report
Laying the foundations for AUKUS: strengthening Australia's high-tech ecosystem in support of advanced capabilities
This report argues that Australia should focus on force multipliers for the Australian Defence Force and areas that build foundations for sovereign capability. This will allow Australia to cement itself as a valuable contributor to an integrated trilateral AUKUS defence industrial base and allied supply...
Report
Lowy Institute poll 2022
This annual poll reveals that in 2022, Australians report feeling unsafe, and as the potential for conflict in our region feels more possible. Support for Australia’s alliance with the United States has returned to a record high, with the majority of Australians now supporting increased...
Report
Maximising Australia’s memberships: recalibrating Australia’s engagement with Indo-Pacific groups
This report provides a stocktake of all Australia's Indo-Pacific strategic memberships, from the Five Eyes in 1956 up to AUKUS in late 2021. It then ranks all of Australia's group memberships by their current value and potential and recommends how to resource them.
Briefing paper
Taiwan and the dangerous illogic of deterrence by denial
The author of this paper argues that although there are many compelling reasons to prefer that Taiwan remain democratic and retain its affinity with the West, these outcomes are not so vital as to merit a strategy for which the immediate consequence of failure is...
Report
Australia’s sovereign naval shipbuilding capability - Future Submarine Acquisition: a shambles - we don't think, we know
This report examines the AUKUS announcement and the cancellation of the agreement with Naval Group to build the Attack-class boats, in addition to providing an update on the Department of Defence's accountability and transparency.
Report
Implementing Australia’s nuclear submarine program
In September 2021, the Australian government announced that it would acquire a nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) capability with support from the UK and the US as the first measure under the AUKUS technology sharing partnership. In order to chart this long, difficult journey, the government also...
Report
What is AUKUS and what is it not?
This paper sets out what AUKUS is—a technology accelerator that is about shifting the military balance in the Indo-Pacific. Just as importantly, it also sets out what AUKUS isn’t, to reset some of the discussion. It also proposes a simple performance metric for AUKUS implementers...
Discussion paper
Scott Morrison’s giant nuclear election ploy
Australia’s decision to join with the United States and the United Kingdom to build Australian long-range nuclear-powered submarines has little to do with the defence of Australia, writes Allan Behm.
Report
The fall of Afghanistan: can the US be trusted any more?
US President, Joe Biden, has blamed the Afghan Government, its security forces, his predecessor Donald Trump, and the US intelligence community for the fall of Afghanistan. In this paper, Lindsay Hughes asks if the US can be trusted in other difficult situations, such as Taiwan?
Policy report
Crucial collaboration: the case for closer Australia-UK defence and security ties in light of a rising China
This paper argues that the now is the time to broaden and deepen the Australia-UK relationship as the post-Brexit UK tilts to the Indo-Pacific. It outlines ways to collaborate on defence, intelligence and security and to tackle grey-zone interference, through both working together and with...
Essay
Countering China’s adventurism over Taiwan: a third way
Faced with the possibility of another Taiwan Strait crisis, more and more observers in Washington and elsewhere are making the case for an unambiguous US commitment to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. This essay contends that the United States has options...
Report
State of the United States: an evolving alliance agenda
With the Biden Administration in Washington committed to both the Indo-Pacific and the value of alliances — and 2021 marking the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty — this publication advances an agenda for the U.S/Australia alliance at this critical time.
Report
US ties to allies under the Biden Administration
This report argues that President Biden may be more predictable and less transactional than Trump, but the world order has witnessed a significant change. Moreover, while the new US president has made working with allies and multilateralism a priority, his primary challenges are domestic.
Draft report
The Biden Administration’s security challenges in the Gulf
The U.S. needs to make fundamental changes to its security efforts in the Persian/Arab Gulf and the Middle East. In this document, the author discusses the wide range of options available to the U.S, and how it can make progress in many areas in relation...
Policy report
A 2020 vision for Five Eyes: new structures for new challenges
This paper recommends that the Australian government should leverage its Five Eyes partnerships and credibility as a constructive middle power to advocate for an expanded, more formally coordinated Five Eyes.
Report
Global Security Forum 2020: a new era for U.S. alliances
This report argues that America's future alliance system will rely on both renewal of existing bedrock structures, and the addition of new purpose-built organisations and enduring coalitions, that focus on addressing key challenges in democratic institutions, supply chains, technology governance and other emerging issues.
Discussion paper
National mobilisation during war: past insights, future possibilities
Wars often arrive unexpectedly, and their nature and scope are rarely understood before they start. This paper aims to provide a structured way of thinking about mobilisation policymaking and planning that takes this inherent uncertainty into account.
Report
Next generation perspectives on the US-Australia alliance
The five essays in this publication are a window to the views of young Australians on how they view the future of the US-Australia alliance. The arguments presented by the authors demonstrate that young people have an appreciation for the rich history of the alliance...
Report
Australia’s participation in the Pine Gap enterprise
Australian participation in the operation of Pine Gap is effectively complete, with access to all areas of the base except the US National Cryptographic Room. The senior Australian Defence officials who negotiated the original implementing agreement with the CIA sought and obtained access to all...
Article
The “Joint Facilities” revisited: Desmond Ball, democratic debate on security, and the human interest
Introduction Desmond Ball’s labours through four decades to elucidate the character of United States defence and intelligence facilities in Australia, to document the evidence, test the balance of benefits and dangers to both national security and human security, and then tell the story to his...
Report
Lowy Institute Poll 2011: Australia and the world
New questions this year cover attitudes towards the US alliance and the war in Afghanistan, opinions on basing US forces in Australia, WikiLeaks, foreign aid and the intervention in Libya. The Poll also repeated questions asked in previous years, revealing trends in public opinion on...