Why the US-Australian alliance needs immediate re-examination

Our near Neighbour Indonesia is beginning to reincorporate the military into the civil service and civilian affairs. Malaysia is rapidly becoming a government heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Myanmar is still involved in a deep civil war. Cambodia and Lao PDR are much closer to China, and some nations are becoming organized crime centres that reach into Australia.

At the same time, the influence of ASEAN is on the decline, while the influence of BRICS is quickly rising with Indonesia now a full member and Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam as partner states.

South-east Asia is now much more developed and much more complex, as Australian influence is waning in the region. Current transactional relationship have not blossomed into fully fledge bilateral relationships, with one of two exceptions.

China (and Russia) are talking about a multi-polar world built upon respect of the rule of law, where nations operate together in cooperation, rather than competition. The days of one superpower exercising primacy over the region are long gone. This requires a complete cognitive adjustment so one can see what is, and what is not a real threat.

AUKUS is asking Australia to trust the United States for decades into the future. Looking at the US relationship with Ukraine today should ring alarm bells. Is Ukraine being thrown under the bus in the interests of better Russian-US relations. Forcing Ukraine to sign up to new agreements, after the event, can be interpreted as nothing better than gangsterism. Is NATO being cut loose? These are events policy makers in Canberra should be watching closely.

The old Henery Kissinger adage says "To be an enemy of the United States is dangerous. To be and ally of the United States is fatal".

Australia urgently needs to be concerned about its place in the region. Australia is quickly pedalling backwards. The reality is that Australia's leverage in the region isn't much more than Timor Leste. Australia is alone and isolated and hasn't realised this yet. Australian defence policy needs a total rethink.

This is thanks to DOGE which effectively forced Australia to take off their rose-coloured 'policy' glasses and enable Australia to see new realities. DOGE gave the world a reality check about what the US really is to allies like Australia.