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.

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?

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 other like-minded partners.

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 between total commitment and abandonment.

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.