Australia’s relationship with the United States gets a second look

Australia is one of America’s closest allies. The two countries have Fought Some of them are in every major conflict since the First World War. Jake Sullivan, former National Security Adviser Joe Biden, He said In January, the two actually entered a “strategic marriage”.

Recently, though, the Australians were rather like a husband who woke up one morning to find a completely strange person lying next to them. Many, a dancer, have seen how President Trump dealt with other long -term allies such as Canada and Europe, threatening their economies with great definitions and Suspicion The American commitment to protect NATO members.

Australia itself was exposed this week with a 10 percent tariff for its exports to the United States, as well as a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum. Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz on Thursday He said The movements will have “consequences for how Australians see this relationship.”

All of this brings Australians a strong look at a largely intertwined and intertwined military relationship Poetry in the area – The question about whether they need “Plan B”

“We are dealing with America completely different,” said Malcolm Turnboul, former conservative prime minister, in an interview. “We are dealing with America, whose values ​​are no longer in line with us.”

As a country of 27 million, it spanned a geographical area competing with the continental United States, Australia has always relied on a strong partner to defend it – Britain, the first, then the United States.

In recent years, Australia has become an integral part of the American military position in the region to counter the increase in confirmation in China. The US Navy revolves regularly across northern Australia, and the messages of American submarines in its west, and the government signed in 2021 Dealing with Washington and LondonKnown as Aukus, to equip Australia with nuclear powered submarines over the coming decades.

But now, some wonder whether the assumptions behind these arrangements are still possible, given Mr. Trump.America first“Can Australia rely on the United States to reach its help in the time of need, and can Australia continue to stand militarily through its American ally if it does not agree mainly on its view of the world?

“We really have to review our thinking in the United States as a country,” said John McCarthy, Australia’s ambassador to the United States.

Mr. Turnboul, whose term interfered with part of Mr. Trump’s first mandate, held this week’s forum in the capital, Canberra, to discuss the American coalition. He said that he did so because he felt that the political parties in Australia did not pay enough attention to the changes and challenges facing the coalition, with a focus instead on local issues in the period before the federal elections next month.

Politicians said on both sides of the corridor that Australia needs to do more to defend it. The government of the Labor Party, Mr. Albaniz, has announced plans to increase military spending to 2.3 percent of GDP over the next decade, while opposition leader Peter Daton Investment pledge About $ 1.9 billion in a squadron of combat aircraft.

At the Australia Security Center in the long term, there is a AUKUS for Nuclear Power submarines, which was Preamble As an unprecedented partnership, it includes the exchange of sensitive American nuclear technology.

Under the agreement, Australia will first get used virginia submarines, and in the end its adoption, in response to the increasing Chinese military influence in the Asia Pacific region. The nucleus payment allows them to cover significantly longer distances without the need for the surface.

However, the agreement faced questions in Australia about whether the United States can accelerate the construction of ships enough to hand over the submarines used on time, and whether it will automatically attract the country to conflicts related to the United States, such as Taiwan.

Trump’s fluctuations and her relationships with suspicious allies have amplified.

“Donald Trump benefits us by explaining to us things that we were determined to not know ourselves,” said Hugh White, a proud professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University and a former intelligence and defense official, who was criticizing the deal.

Charles Edil, President of Australia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the Australians may feel the need for a more independent defense, as politicians in the country have not transferred to the public the resources that you will need to be reinstated.

After the forum, he said that Australia may eventually have too much to gain it from the coalition and need it to obtain the balance of power in the region.

Dennis Richardson, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense, who also served as Australia Ambassador in Washington, said at the Mr. Turnboul Forum.

“I don’t think we need to waste time in the plan B,” referring to the AUKUS deal. “The worst thing we can do at this stage is to change horses.”