AUKUS: The Changing Dynamic and Its Regional Implications

Abstract

A historic security deal was announced on 15 September 2021. The strategic partnership amalgamating the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia is contrived to share advanced defence know-how and equip Australian forces with the nuclear-powered submarines. Attentions mount to the partnership’s ultimate purpose and implications for other countries. France expressed fury over its loss of the lucrative submarine deal by the scuppered pact. China sees itself as the target of the new grouping. Although reactions vary, the ASEAN generally views the enunciation of AUKUS as deteriorating the geopolitical situation in the region. Why have the three member states initiated such trilateral defence agreement? This article analyses that the audacious enlistment marks a shift in US global strategy, redistributing its forces by empowering its allies to strengthen military capabilities around the Indo-Pacific. It represents Australian eager to project power up to shape the security environment more in Australia’s favour, enhance its status and influence within the American alliance system and heighten its Anglophone identity. This article contends that the advent of a new inner Anglosphere core has disturbed the regional order by potentially escalating arms race, increasing regional tensions and undermining relevant institutions of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.