In light of the recent AUKUS pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, Professor John Blaxland explores the unreconciled dialectic in Australian consciousness between  geography, history, and a lingering fear of entrapment.

As a multicultural nation, how important is the Anglosphere to Australia’s identity, its sense of history and its hopes for the future? How fearful should Australians be of being left to face the fears of our geography without a great and powerful friend by our side? To what extent do Australia’s interests overlap with its neighbours and how much hope can they place in regional partnerships? How much can AUKUS do for Australia in enlisting British and American help? And will that make the regional partnerships more or less likely to be successful? Professor John Blaxland from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU probes each of these highly pertinent questions in this thought-provoking discussion about Australia’s place in the world.

John Blaxland is Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australia National University and a former military intelligence officer. His publications include The US-Thai Alliance and Asian International Relations (2012); Niche Wars: Australia in Afghanistan, 2001-2004 (2020); In From The Cold; Reflections on Australia’s Korean War (2020); A Geostrategic SWOT Analysis for Australia (2019); The Secret Cold War (2016); East Timor Intervention (2015); The Protest Years (2015); The Australian Army from Whitlam to Howard (2014); Strategic Cousins (2006); Revisiting Counterinsurgency (2006); Information era Manoeuvre (2003); Signals (1998), and Organising an Army (1989).

This is a recording of an event held by AIIA ACT on 2 November 2021. To register for upcoming events, CLICK HERE.