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Amid growing regional uncertainty, the Australia-Japan relationship has gained new importance in recent times. And as Professor Purnendra Jain writes, a face-to-face meeting of prime ministers in Tokyo and the signing of a visiting military forces agreement has been a good start for relations under Japan’s new leader Yoshihide Suga.
Whoever wins the imminent US Presidential election, Geoff Miller, Former Director-General, Office of National Assessments, writes, US-China relations will continue to be the most important geo-political issue for the world, and for Australia.
Australia should learn from 19th century statecraft, says former ambassador John McCarthy, and practice some artful diplomacy in the coming months that balances our interests in securing a strong US, a stable region, and if possible a cooperatively engaged China.
The Quad, a loose strategic coalition of the Indo-Pacific region’s four leading democracies, is rapidly solidifying this year in response to China’s aggressive foreign policy. Following a recent meeting of their top foreign-policy officials in Tokyo, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are now actively working toward establishing a new multilateral security structure for the region, writes Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research.
The rise of an assertive China, the absence of American leadership, and the coronavirus pandemic have combined to pose unprecedented challenges to the countries of the Indo-Pacific. Former Japanese ambassador Sumio Kusaka argues they also provide the rationale for a new era in Australia-Japan relations and the consolidation of a ‘natural’ partnership.