Trust, Ambiguity & the New Security Outlook

This hybrid event- Hobart live audience and streamed/recorded format will be presented by the Australian Institute of International Affairs (Tasmania) and the Global Dialogue Forum in New Delhi in association with the University of Tasmania. It will canvas the principles, strengths and points of tension pertaining to the Quad and AUKUS, from the perspectives of India, Southeast Asia and Australia respectively.

The advent of minilateral groupings such as the tripartite AUKUS technology sharing arrangement, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), attest to the complexity of the contest for a 'free and open Indo-Pacific'. They need not be formal alliances or treaties but ad hoc associations with particular objectives. They exist as overlapping and potentially ambiguous networks of collaboration within an unstable world order.

As an organising principle, minilateral associations offer three attributes: as points of connection and trust-building mechanisms for nations that confront certain challenges in common while retaining separation on others; enabling long-established allies such as Australia, the UK and the US (AUKUS) to problem-solve in specific areas or to invest their relationships with even more strategic intimacy; and the ability to operate within or parallel to pre-existing formal frameworks of association or alliance, for short or longer periods.

Just as these minilaterals are creatures of the multi-polar international order, so too they are subject to the stresses, divergent interests and ambiguities of such an environment. Under stress, for example, how does India balance its commitment to the Quad with imperatives of continental defence and its relationships with China and Russia? Given that ASEAN sits between China, Australia and India, what likely effect will the wariness of key Southeast Asian nations have on regional perspectives and the conduct of relationships? What key issues should the new Australian Labor government grapple with in reconciling its minilateral priorities with those of the formal US alliance and engagement with its Southeast Asian neighborhood?

Please note there are two types of tickets

Onsite: Trust, Ambiguity & the New Security Outlook: Indian, Southeast Asian & Aust Tickets, Wed 03/08/2022 at 6:00 pm | Eventbrite​

Webinar: Webinar Registration - Zoom​