Embrace Aukus to make Britain great again

Between the late 1960s and the 2010s there was a declinist fashion in British foreign and security policy. British governments disengaged from East of Suez, turned their backs on old Commonwealth friends and focused entirely on Europe. It was the triumph of little England over global Britain.

But now, at last, this bleak period has come to an end, with the UK once more taking up a truly global role. In particular, it is re-engaging with Australia – a country with which, politically and intellectually, it has more in common than almost any other combination of countries on Earth. This re-engagement is not just for emotional reasons or commercial gain – though they are not bad reasons to engage – but to contribute to the security of the Indo-pacific region.

That Rishi Sunak would fly to San Diego to sign an agreement with the United States and Australia to help build a new generation of nuclear submarines for the Royal Australian Navy is an immensely positive signal from London. It comes on top of the recently signed Uk-australia free trade agreement, which is expected to come into force by the end of this year.

More importantly, though, the UK’S involvement in the Aukus project demonstrates in no uncertain terms that it is ready to reclaim its natural role East of Suez. It is the first really practical and substantial manifestation of the British tilt to Asia. This tilt has its origins in the Indo-pacific commission set up by the think tank Policy Exchange and chaired by Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister. It was then embraced in the Integrated Review.

Critics will say that the Ukraine war has demonstrated that British security lies in Europe and to contribute to the Indo Pacific is just post-brexit overreach. This simplistic analysis fails to take into account the way the world works today. Let me explain.

The single most important geopolitical issue the world has to wrestle with is the rise of China. How to engage with China, but at the same time ensure that it does not abuse its new power, is a conundrum we all have to resolve. The solution, in principle, lies in a combination of balance of power and coexistence. China has to understand that there are constraints on how far it can go and that, if it does overreach, it invites a terrible confrontation with the United States and its allies.

As things stand, China wants to change the world order – to redirect power away from the rules-based international system led by the liberal democracies and have a world that is more compliant with the demands of autocratic states, such as itself, Russia and Iran. So in an environment where Russia is at war with Ukraine and Ukraine is substantially supported by the West, China’s sympathies lie with the Russians.

Indeed, the Chinese leadership has in recent years made the same judgment as Vladimir Putin: that the West is feckless and weak, given its feeble response to the 2014 occupation of Crimea and President Biden’s sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The West has done something to disprove this analysis by coming together in its support for Ukraine. But more importantly still will be the extent to which liberal democracies are able to challenge and balance Chinese power in the Indo-pacific region. If they fail to do so, then not only will China become yet more assertive in the South China Sea, but it will seize democratic Taiwan. That would strengthen the world’s autocracies and work against Britain’s vested interests.

Remember – your country has every right to be a global power. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. So it would be an abrogation of British responsibility, as well as a foolish abandonment of national interest, for the United Kingdom to exclude itself from this increasingly vital sphere.

That is the real meaning of the Aukus agreement. The British Government is making a very strong statement that it is determined that the UK will play a key role in the balance of power – that it will be part of the guard of safety against Beijing. And it will do this first by helping to develop Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine capacity.

Yes, of course this project is in the UK’S economic interests. But much more significantly, it is by far the biggest physical manifestation of the new doctrine of global Britain. You are world players again.

Alexander Downer is a former Australian foreign minister and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom