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New world order is beginning to take shape, even if it remains disguised in the clothes of the old. The United States, Britain, and Australia have announced what is in fact a new Anglo-military alliance. In a live three-way public declaration, Biden, Morrison, and Boris Johnson revealed that the Australians would scrap their agreement with France to team up with Britain and the US instead, forming a new AUKUS-military alliance in the process. The United States announced a new alliance with Australia and Britain to strengthen military capabilities in the face of a rising China, with Australia to get a nuclear submarine fleet and American cruise missiles. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson did not mention China in unveiling their alliance, dubbed AUKUS but their intent was clear, and their announcement prompted fury in Beijing. China condemned the deal as an extremely irresponsible threat to stability in the region.
Beijing claims almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both maritime areas in the South and East China seas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade. The Western allies often reference the rule of law and freedoms when railing against China´s military build-up in the South China Sea. The first major initiative announced under the new alliance was the fleet of eight state-of-the-art nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. With China building up its own navy and repeatedly testing decades of US military dominance across Asia, the creation of AUKUS, with its focus on submarines, is meant to send a message of reassurance and a determination to maintain a strong deterrent stance. Even if not carrying nuclear weapons, the new submarines will allow Australia to play at a much higher level.
The agreement also left Paris furious, as Australia scrapped a multi-billion-dollar 2016 deal to purchase conventional submarines from France. The French response has been apoplectic and called the decision a knife in the back. It had set relations between the U.S. and France back to their lowest point since the Iraq War, calling it a Trafalgar strike. Yet behind the French anger the faint outlines of new world order, or at least an attempt to start drawing one. Indeed the leaders who try to create something new conjure up the spirits of the past to their service. The old language, slogans, and costumes are deployed to present the new scene in time-honoured disguise. As such, President Biden went out of his way to praise France and to claim that it remained a key partner in the Indo-Pacific.
The submarine contract with France was worth around Aus$50 billion at the time of signing. More recently the overall deal was estimated at Aus$90 billion. Meanwhile, New Zealand said it would ban Australia’s submarines from its waters, in line with an existing policy on the presence of nuclear-powered submarines. The EU was not told in advance about the new military partnership between the US, Britain and Australia. The European Union also set out a formal strategy to boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific and counter China’s rising power, pledging to seek a trade deal with Taiwan and to deploy more ships to keep open sea routes, particularly in areas such as climate change, but the deeper ties with India, Japan, Australia and Taiwan are basically aimed at limiting Beijing’s power. The US and Australia have already stepped up defence ties as part of the so-called Quad, which also includes India and Japan. For France, in particular, the announcement only reinforces its belief in the difference between Europe and the Anglo-Saxon world.
The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region is not only very crucial in the wake of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers, but also very strategic for Russia, Pakistan, Iran Central Asia countries especially after Kabul fall which indeed advancing towards new world order.
Under the first major initiative of AUKUS, Australia would build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and the UK, a capability aimed at the name of promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Eventually patrol Australia’s coastline were not nuclear-armed, but nuclear-powered which may easily be converted to nuclear-armed. The formation of an AUKUS military alliance has a sense of deep continuity, and are natural allies while may be separated geographically, but interests and values are the same. The three nations have fought together for most of the past 100 years and are core members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, alongside Canada and New Zealand. The origins of the FVEY can be traced back to informal secret meetings during World War II between British and US code-breakers that started before the US entry into the war, followed by the Atlantic Charter agreed by the Allies to lay out their goals for a post-war world, especially with the Soviet sphere of influence. As the Cold War deepened, the intelligence-sharing arrangement became formalised under the ECHELON surveillance system in the 1960s. This was initially developed by the FVEY to monitor the communications of the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Block, although it is now used to monitor communications worldwide. These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for cooperation in signals intelligence.
The agreement reflects the unique level of cooperation between the three countries, which already share extensive intelligence through the Five Eyes alliance recognising their deep defence ties, embark on further trilateral collaboration under AUKUS to enhance joint capabilities and interoperability. These initial efforts will focus on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities. Now, the three nations have agreed to enhance the development of joint capabilities and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains. Over the next 18 months, AUKUS will enhance the growing network of US partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, ASEAN, bilateral strategic partners, the Quad, Five Eyes countries.
The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region is not only very crucial in the wake of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers, but also very strategic for Russia, Pakistan, Iran Central Asia countries especially after Kabul fall which indeed advancing towards new world order. One can understand the power and agenda of the “Five Eyes” intelligence group that The New Zealand tour of Pakistan was abandoned after the New Zealand government received an alert from the “Five Eyes” intelligence group about a “direct and imminent” threat to its team. Indeed Pakistan entered into a 664 Million US$ defence deal with Argentina to Sale 12 JF 17 Block 111 which UK told Pakistan not to do as both UK and Argentina fought for the Falkland Island in the past and according to the UK, Argentina doesn’t have any other enemy to use these jets except The UK. But the deal was approved and in the next hour, NZ cancelled its tour. Now it’s expected that both Australia and England would cancel their tours to Pakistan as well, which shows that these arrangements are not only for China but for the whole region too. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check not only China’s growing assertiveness but also Russia, Pakistan, Iran Central Asia countries.
In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence. Now, AUKUS are launching the acquisition of non-conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines for its navy, that’s could be transformed into nuclear-armed submarines. Although The leaders said their new endeavour is aimed at helping sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. But indeed these are non-conventionally armed submarines that are powered by nuclear reactors. The UK, Australia and the US are natural allies while may be separated geographically, but interests and values are the same. AUKUS are launching the acquisition of non-conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines for its navy, that’s could be transformed into nuclear-armed submarines. These are non-conventionally armed submarines that are powered by nuclear reactors. Eventually patrol Australia’s coastline were not nuclear-armed, but nuclear-powered which may easily be converted to nuclear-armed. So, Is Australia seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability? and is AUKUS crossing its nonproliferation commitments?