After American Primacy Imagining the Future of Australia’s Defence: Introduction

Abstract

Australian defence policy sits at a crossroads. For over seventy years the 'Lucky Country's strategic position had been anchored by the US-led international order that has been in place since the ending of the Second World War. But that order is now under strain due to a confluence of forces, including US President Donald Trump's 'America first' policies, increasingly assertive authoritarian regimes in China and Russia, and the rise of new powers -such as India and Indonesia-as more powerful international players. In this new era, beset with rapid strategic and technological change underpinned by increasing major power jostling in a more multipolar Indo-Pacific, what does the future hold for this region and for Australia's defence policy? Like its companion volumes, Australia's Defence: Towards a New Era? (2014) and Australia's American Alliance (2016), this book brings together leading experts to examine the future of Australian defence policy after American primacy, plotting possible, probable and preferable strategic futures for a country that faces unprecedented strategic challenges.