Aukus is the moment Global Britain came alive
The new Uk-us-australia partnership is proof that the self-doubting foreign policy elite was wrong
The security partnership jointly announced by President Biden and prime ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison late on Wednesday night may turn out to be one of the most consequential since the end of the Cold War. Aukus, as it is to be known, is a new trilateral agreement that deepens the defence and security ties between Australia, the UK and the United States. The US and the UK will mark the new partnership by providing Australia with sensitive nuclear technology that gives its submarine fleet greater range and flexibility in the Indo-pacific region.
Aukus is proof that, despite recent problems in Afghanistan, Boris Johnson was right to focus on an “Indo-pacific Tilt” in the Government’s Integrated Review earlier this year. Astutely, it emphasised that “Global Britain” must look beyond its European neighbours to the fastest-growing economic region in the world, in terms of future trade, growth and also questions of security.
Just a few weeks ago, panjandrums in the British foreign policy establishment were already writing off this strategy. The Kabul debacle showed that the US didn’t care what its allies thought and that the UK was suffering from “delusions of grandeur”. The review was supposedly dead in the water.
This was always total nonsense. The foreign policy establishment revealed its poverty of ambition, reducing Britain’s role to European regionalism.
To start with, there is history. It may be unfashionable to talk in the terms Winston Churchill did of “the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples”. But when he framed the “special relationship” at the end of the Second World War, it went much broader than the trans-atlantic alliance and included Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Seventy-five years on, the ties between Australia, Britain and the US remain strong, not least in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangements, the foundations for the new trilateral agreement.
Secondly, there is the future. The Indo-pacific is the fastest-growing part of the world’s economy. As Liz Truss, the new Foreign Secretary, noted in her speech to Policy Exchange this week, two thirds of the world’s middle-class will be in Asia by 2030. This is an opportunity for a free-trading and globally minded country such as Britain.
As Truss observed, the UK lost its trade muscle memory after nearly 50 years of being in the protectionist EU. It is now rediscovering what it can do as a sovereign trading nation.
Asia’s economic boom also raises a multitude of strategic and defence questions. China is a significant part of Asia’s growth story. And as it becomes economically stronger, it is ramping up its defence spending and throwing its weight around. Countries such as the Philippines are seeing encroachment on their territory. For many, it is becoming difficult to navigate unmolested in the South China Sea.
China is also punishing countries that dare to stand up to it. Australia made early public calls for an investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Australian government was also vocal in its criticism of China over the crackdown on democratic dissent in Hong Kong and human rights abuses in Xinjiang. In response, Beijing imposed sanctions on Australia’s export sectors, including barley, wine, seafood and coal, in an obvious attempt to warn Australia and other countries that they should bow to China’s diktats. The landmark defence deal is a reminder to China that Australia does not stand alone – and has not been deserted by its oldest allies.
Some may question what role Britain has in all this. Well, the UK should stop doubting itself and learn how others see it. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Britain has global security responsibilities and is taken seriously as a global actor. When Policy Exchange launched its Indo-pacific Commission last year, it consulted key thinkers from all over the region, from
India and Japan, to Canada and Australia, and smaller countries such as Singapore and Malaysia too. Not a single one objected to the idea of Britain returning to the Indo-pacific not just as a trading partner but also as a security power. Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, was among those applauding the idea, saying that the Royal Navy would be a welcome presence in the seas of the Indo-pacific.
All of the UK’S regional partners in the Indo-pacific recognise that their future growth and prosperity depends on free and open access to the high seas. Bullying from our adversaries and hostility to free trade will slow that growth, which will impact the entire global economy. It is in all our interests, therefore, to ensure that the Indopacific region remains open and that no regional power is allowed to undermine that principle.
The decision by both the British and US governments to help their trusted ally Australia develop nuclear-powered submarines is a substantial way for both countries to contribute to the stability of a balanced Indo-pacific region.