YDS 2021 in Review
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021. This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
2021 is an anthology of articles, photo essays and opinions of students in international relations. With a year full of decade-defining events across the globe, this anthology is a must-read to reflect upon the year that was 2021.
This anthology was created by Young Diplomats Society. For more information, please visit our website www.theyoungdiplomats.com.
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by Patrick Quinn
On 15 September 2021, Australia, the United States and the
United Kingdom announced a new trilateral security
partnership. The new ‘AUKUS’ pact, negotiated in secrecy over
several months, will see extensive diplomatic and technological
collaboration for the purpose of promoting a “safer and more
secure Indo-Pacific.” The trilateral partnership will
predominantly focus on military capability, thereby
distinguishing it from both the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing
alliance, which also includes Canada and New Zealand, and the
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue encompassing Australia, the US,
India, and Japan.
Without a doubt, the most striking component of the AUKUS
partnership is the revelation that Australia will acquire a fleet of
at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. The announcement
supplants the pre-existing plan to construct 12 conventional
diesel-electric submarines signed with French majority-owned
Naval Group in 2019. Following an 18-month scoping period, the
new submarine fleet is set to be built at the Osborne Naval
Shipyard in Adelaide, South Australia, for a price tag likely to be
in the tens of billions of dollars.
While the strategic logic underpinning the announcement is
relatively straightforward, the significance of such a partnership
should not be understated. Simply put, the centrepiece of the
deal – the development of an Australian nuclear-powered
submarine fleet – offers a fleet with superior range and greater
endurance than conventionally-powered alternatives. They are
quieter, can stay submerged for longer, and can travel at much
faster speeds, even out-pacing surface vessels in some cases.
Generally speaking, submarines offer a unique form of ‘strategic
weight’ that cannot be attained via the use of other surface
vessels. Submarines can remain concealed anywhere their
range allows, yielding a disproportionate deterrent effect over
large areas due to the uncertainty this creates in the strategic
calculations of adversaries. For the new AUKUS partnership, this
'weight' is considerably 'heavier' when those submarines are
nuclear-powered, as the combination of greater speed, range,
and endurance results in a superior deterrent effect.
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