the first major armed conflict of the cold war took place in the

The AUKUS partnership is needed because, for the first time, the three countries face a competitor, China, that is positioned to establish technological dominance – even over long-held American supremacy – and has the clear intent to use it for malign purposes, whether in high-end military technology or the everyday gadgets we use to communicate with one another.

This week’s NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the leaders of Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand also have been invited, would be a perfect opportunity for the AUKUS three to meet and elevate this collaboration to the international stage.Īll three countries have assessed that the global strategic landscape has shifted in such a way that requires them to combine resources and capabilities to maintain a military and technological advantage over revisionist powers that seek to remake the world order both in their own image and to the distinct detriment of others. But the second pillar of AUKUS - cooperation on advanced capabilities including in cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities - is equally important and will require the three governments to interact in new ways with each other, with industry, and with other nations. The most high-profile element of the collaboration is to build nuclear-powered submarines (the so-called first pillar of the agreement). By Justin Bassi, Maeve Ryan and Lisa CurtisĪustralia, the United Kingdom and the United States are nearing their third year of the most forward-looking and visionary strategic industrial effort since the 1941 Lend-Lease Act, which empowered the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” Their joint decision, announced in September 2021, to establish the “enhanced trilateral security partnership” known as AUKUS stemmed from a mutual recognition that China’s military build-up and technological advancement presents a clear threat to each country.

The first major armed conflict of the cold war took place in the