United States-Australia Defense And Security Cooperation Under The Backdrop Of The Indo-Pacific Strategy

This thesis examines the United States’ and Australia’s Indo-Pacific strategy,as it relates to the Free and Open Indo Pacific(FOIP)policy and China’s rise.During the Cold War,the ANZUS alliance was defined as a key contributor of defense capabilities within the context of Asia-Pacific regional security.Historically,defense and security cooperation interests of the United States and Australia have promoted a networking of alliances in the Asia-Pacific region.Today,the two critical areas of the Indo-Pacific strategy are the development of the FOIP policy and China’s rise.Due to the high stakes of China’s rise,conceptualizing the main actors and threats to the FOIP policy should hold as a point of departure for any assessment of United States-Australia defense and security cooperation in the Indo Pacific.Countries in the alliance network will need to assess their security interests with the United States and Australia against their own economic interests with a rising China.Even though the prospects for defense and security cooperation are very likely in the case of the United States and Australia under the FOIP policy,the other Indo-Pacific countries’ capabilities and intentions are uncertain at this juncture of the Indo-Pacific Strategy’s development.