Navigating Uncertainty - S2E03 - Special Episode - The AUKUS Agreement

UNSW Canberra Podcasts

On 15 September 2021 the leaders of Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom jointly announced a new trilateral security pact, ‘AUKUS'. Under the agreement, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to help Australia to develop and deploy nuclear-powered submarines that add to the Western military presence in the Pacific region. The agreement also covers key areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, underwater capabilities and long-range strike capabilities. The announcement spelled the end of a $90 billion contract struck in 2016 with the French company Naval Group for conventionally-powered submarines. In furious reaction, France withdrew its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington. While being lauded by many in Australia, the announcement of AUKUS has had a mixed reception in the region. In this special episode, UNSW Canberra Associate Professor David Lee invites Professor Hugh White to assess the implications of AUKUS for Australian Grand Strategy. The podcast will traverse the implications of AUKUS for Australian defence policy and strategy and the long-term ramifications of the announcement for Australia’s foreign and regional relations. Professor Hugh White AO FASSA, Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University, is one of Australia’s most distinguished scholars in the field of Australian defence studies and strategy and is a former Deputy Secretary in the Department of Defence. His many publications include, 'The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power', Black Inc, Melbourne, 2012 and 'How to Defend Australia', La Trobe University Press, 2019.