The future of Taiwan, important though that is in itself, has become the focus of something much bigger – the strategic contest between America and China over which of them will be the primary strategic power in East Asia over the decades ahead.
The tense situation in US relations with Russia over the massing of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and with China over an increasingly militarily threatened Taiwan confronts a domestically distracted America with the prospect of conflicts on two separate fronts.
In this Centre of Gravity paper, six of Australia’s leading scholars and policy experts debate Australian participation in the ‘Australia-India-Japan-United States consultations on the Indo-Pacific
Now we know. For 20 years Australians have been happy to assume that America had the strength and resolve to remain the world's leading power. In particular, our leaders have assured us that we can rely on America's power and judgment to manage China's rise, to keep Asia stable and Australia safe. But now we know that America is not the country we thought it was.