Workshop Brief: Toward a Shared Alliance Strategy in a Contested Indo-Pacific: A View from Australia

As comprehensive competition between the United States and China escalates, U.S. policymakers need to understand how a crucial ally, Australia, is trying to come to terms with a tough new security environment. Amid China’s push for preeminent power across the Indo-Pacific region, the United States and Australia need to ensure that their alliance is calibrated to withstand shocks and adjust to sustained strategic competition. Neither side can afford to take the alliance for granted. In particular, Washington cannot assume that Australians will automatically understand or agree with all measures that the United States is now taking to constrain Chinese power. Australia wants to prevent Chinese dominance of its region but will be selective about which measures of pushback to support.