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https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-lets-rethink-australias-national-security-and-focus-on-fairness-and-climate-action-not-blind-fealty-to-the-us-258064>
"The America we thought we knew is not coming back. America in 2028 will be
different, perhaps worse. And Australians, along with much of the world, are
eager for something different.
In polling conducted by The Australia Institute in February 2025, 44% of
respondents agreed that it is in Australia’s interests to pursue a more
independent foreign policy. The way we think about our relationship with the
United States, and our role in the world, is changing and changing quickly.
Those who insist that we can carry on as we always have, that we can just ride
Trump out, or that we have to remain close to his version of America because
that is the way we have always ensured our “security” are leaving the field
open to bad-faith actors, making our world even less safe.
Proponents of the status quo also have a shallow and ungenerous understanding
of what “security” really is.
Supporters of the AUKUS deal, and blind supporters of the US, typically
exaggerate the threat to Australia of countries like China while deliberately
obscuring the risks to our security and the security of our region if we
unquestioningly follow the US.
Those risks include miscalculations or deliberate provocations of war between
great powers. They also include threats such as catastrophic climate change,
another global pandemic, nuclear annihilation, and the breakdown of the rule of
law.
But to our current leaders, those real threats don’t appear to matter, because
our current understanding of security doesn’t consider so-called “soft” issues
such as environmental catastrophe or the collapse of international law as
genuine threats."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
