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Australia’s defence strategic review leaves many vital questions up in the air
It provides no clear statement of Australia’s strategic objectives for its armed forces in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment. What’s missing too is the money needed if the country is to remain a serious middle power over the decades ahead.
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Australia's latest defence review is the fifth major defence policy statement to come out of Canberra since 2009, and none of them have done more than tinker at the margins, says the writer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Like other close allies of the United States, Australia has three options in responding militarily to China’s growing power and strategic ambition in Asia.
One option is to try to help defeat the Chinese challenge to American regional leadership, and perpetuate the US role as Asia’s strongest power and Australia’s security guarantor. That would mean building expanded military capabilities designed to help Washington deter or defeat Chinese aggression.
