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

Australia is one of the closest allies in America; The two countries have fought alongside each other in every great conflict from the First World War. Jake Sullivan, Councilor for National Security of former President Joe Biden, he said In January that the two had actually entered a “strategic marriage”.

Lately, however, the Australians have felt rather as a spouse who woke up one morning to find a complete stranger who lay next to them. Many looked, amazed, as President Trump has treated other long -date allies such as Canada and Europe, threatening Cavania their economies with strong rates and Casting doubt on the commitment of the United States to protect NATO members.

Australia itself was hit this week with a 10 percentage rate on its exports to the United States, as well as rates of 25 % on its steel and aluminum. Thursday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese he said The moves “would have consequences on how Australians see this relationship”.

All this has the Australians who look hard with heavily intertwined military relationships and employees with the United States, even if China is making its growing military growth heard in the region – and asking if they need a “plan B.”

“We are dealing with a very different America,” said Malcolm Turnbull, former conservative prime minister, in an interview. “We have to do with an America whose values ​​no longer align with ours.”

While a nation of 27 million extended on a geographical expanse that rival with the continental United States, Australia has always relied on a powerful partner for its defense: first Great Britain, then the United States.

In recent years, Australia has become an integral part of the US military posture in the region to combat China’s greater assertiveness. The US marines rotate regularly through northern Australia, the US submarines hook to the west and the government signed a 2021 He faces Washington and LondonKnown as Aukus, to equip the Australia of nuclear propulsion submarines in the coming decades.

But now, some wonder if the hypotheses behind these agreements are still valid, dates “Trump”America first“The position. Australia can rely on the United States to come to its aid in a moment of need and Australia can continue to resist militarily to its American ally if basically it does not agree with its world view?

“We really have to review our thoughts on the United States as a country,” said John McCarthy, a former Australian ambassador to the United States.

Turnbull, whose mandate overlaps the first mandate of Mr. Trump, convened a forum this week in the capital, Canberra, to discuss the United States alliance. He said he did it because he felt that the political parties of Australia were not paying enough attention to the changes and challenges to the alliance, focusing instead on domestic issues in view of the federal elections next month.

The politicians of both sides of the corridor said that Australia must do more for their defense. The Labor government of Mr. Albanese has announced its intention to increase military spending at 2.3 percent of the gross domestic product in the next decade, while the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has committed to investing About $ 1.9 billion in a combat jet squadron.

At the center of the Australian plans for long -term safety is the Aukus agreement for nuclear propulsion submarines, which was announced As an unprecedented partnership involving the sharing of the sensitive American nuclear technology.

Based on the agreement, Australia will first acquire second -hand American class submarines and finally build its own, as a response to the growing Chinese military influence in Pacific Asia. The nuclear food propulsion would allow them to stealthily cover much longer distances without having to emerge.

From his signature, however, the agreement has faced questions in Australia that the United States could accelerate its naval construction enough to deliver the used submarines in time and if it would have automatically attracted the country in conflicts involving the United States, as on Taiwan.

The volatility of the Trump administration and its relations with the allies have amplified skepticism.

“Donald Trump is doing a clear favor to us things that we have been determined not to recognize for ourselves,” said Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University and a former officer of intelligence and defense, who criticized the agreement.

But although Australians can hear the need for a more independent defense, the country’s politicians have not communicated to the public the resources that should have been redirected, said Charles Edel, president of Australia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In the end Australia may have too much to gain from the alliance and need it for the balance of power in the region, he said after the forum.

Dennis Richardson, former secretary of foreign affairs and defense who was also Australian ambassador to Washington, said the same at the forum of Mr. Turnbull.

“I don’t think we have to waste time with a plan B,” he said, referring to the Aukus agreement. “The worst possible thing that we could do at this point would be to change the horses.”