Submarines, Security, and Alliances

On 16 September the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership called “AUKUS”.

Through AUKUS, the three governments reinforced their commitment to support each other’s security and defense interests; and as its first initiative the three leaders committed to support Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

In the minutes, hours and days that followed governments, the press and commentators from around the world have been reacting to this announcement, which some have characterised as the most important defence and security policy decision Australia has made in over 50 years.

Rarely – if ever - has an Australian policy decision received such global attention. France, whose contract to supply Australia non-nuclear-powered submarines was cancelled, has reacted strongly and is rallying its European neighbours to its cause. China and other regional countries, such as Malaysia, have warned that the decision could create a new arms race in the Indo-Pacific. Commentators are making assessments of what this means for the United States’ posture in the Indo-Pacific; its relations with China; and its ability devote increasingly scarce diplomatic and military resources to other regions such as the Middle East and Europe.

During this Webinar, moderated by the new President of AIIA WA, Brendan Augustin, our distinguished panel will share their views on the rationale for this historic announcement and the possible ramifications for Australia, our region and the world. 
 

This event will be online only. Registrations close on 28th of September at 4pm AWST, after which you will receive a follow-up email containing details of how to join the Zoom webinar. The webinar will open at 5:45:pm AWST.  The presenation will begin at 6:00pm AWST (Perth time, UTC+8), 8:00pm AEST (UTC+10)

About the Speakers

Hugh White AO is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. His work focuses primarily on Australian strategic and defence policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, and global strategic affairs especially as they influence Australia and the Asia-Pacific. He has served as an intelligence analyst with the Office of National Assessments, as a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, as a senior adviser on the staffs of Defence Minister Kim Beazley and Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and as a senior official in the Department of Defence, where from 1995 to 2000 he was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence, and as the first Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

In the 1970s he studied philosophy at Melbourne and Oxford Universities. He was the principal author of Australia’s 2000 Defence White Paper. His major publications include Power Shift: Australia’s future between Washington and Beijing, [2010], The China Choice: Why America should share power, [2012], Without America: Australia’s future in the New Asia [2017], and How to defend Australia [2019]

Susannah Patton is a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre.  She joined the United States Studies Centre from the Australian government, where she was until 2020 a Senior Analyst in the Southeast Asia Branch at the Office of National Intelligence, Australia’s peak intelligence assessment agency.

Susannah previously served in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a diplomat in the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.  Susannah holds first class honours degrees in law and political science from the Australian National University and speaks Thai. 

Professor Peter J. Dean was appointed as UWA’s first Chair of Defence Studies and the inaugural director of the UWA Defence and Security Institute.

Prior to the commencement, Professor Dean was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the UWA.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre and a Visitng Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University.

Peter has an extensive background in military and defence studies.  He has been a Fulbright Fellow and Endeavour Research Scholar in Australia-United States Alliance Studies as well as a non-resident fellow with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

Before joining UWA, Peter was a scholar at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, in The Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific where he held numerous research, teaching and leadership positions.  Peter’s time at ANU included eight years teaching strategy, military operations, and Australian defence policy at the Australian Command and Staff College.  He spent fourteen years as a member of the Australian Army (Reserve) with postings to infantry, commando, and training units.

Professor Dean was the founding editor of the Melbourne University Press Defence Studies Series, is a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian Army Journal, Global War Studies and the Military Studies Journal, and a former managing editor of the journal Security Challenges. He is a regular media commentator on Australian, United States, and regional defence issues.  An international award winning author, his most recent book (with Brendan Taylor and Stephan Fruhling), is After American Primacy: Imagining the Future of Australia’s Defence, (Melbourne University Press, 2019).