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Ken Fabian's avatar

Are the nuclear submarines intended to give us (or is that US?) the option to close down trade in Australian commodities to China? Will solar panels, inverters, wind turbines, batteries, EV's feature as the kinds of goods that somehow it is essential we suppress for the sake of enduring US dominance?

For all the alarmist fear of globalism I think the USA and it's allies (including Australia) have made a strategic mistake by elevating their unilateral power to interfere and use force above the power of international law; their/our efforts to suppress the economic growth and interfere in the internal affairs of the world's most populous nation is not the way to build a world order where the most powerful (China, India) don't act unilaterally. Seems like all out effort to suppress China will just assure China WILL perceive us as enemy, not legitimate adversary and will act accordingly. To our detriment.

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John Goss's avatar

As you rightly point out John, AUKUS does not make economic sense and on the surface does not make national security sense. But if one believes that the biggest threat to peace in the Asia-Pacific is the US, it does make sense. There are so many ways the US national security establishment and/or US mad-men could accidentally or deliberately cause military conflict between the US and China, it is terrifying. And the most effective way for Australia to be able to influence the US towards a sane path, is to work very closely with the US. AUKUS is the price we pay for greater influence. Wong and Albanese obviously cannot say publicly this is their strategy. And I could be wrong that this is their strategy. But it's worth keeping this possibility in mind as we observe US/Australia/China relations.

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