Trust and diversify: A geoeconomic strategy for the Australia-US alliance

As Australia and the United States commemorate the 70th anniversary of their alliance, the alliance agenda is burgeoning, matching the pace and breath of geostrategic change in the Indo-Pacific, accompanied by constant innovation in ways nation states project power and influence. China’s economic coercion of Australia is a telling case in point, figuring prominently in recent remarks from US senior officials. But where and how does geoeconomic competition fit in the Australia-US alliance agenda? What should a framework for a geoeconomic alliance cooperation encompass? What does an Australia-US alliance with a geoeconomic agenda look like, institutionally and operationally? The USSC hosted a discussion with the authors of Trust and diversify: A geoeconomic strategy for the Australia-US alliance, a new United States Studies Centre (USSC) report launched on 2 September. The report’s co-authors – American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Zack Cooper, Australian National University Senior Lecturer Darren Lim and former Center for a New American Security researcher Ashley Feng – engaged in a discussion moderated by Perth USAsia Centre Research Director Jeffrey Wilson.