Australia must step up in Asia

THE US will no longer be able to guarantee peace and security for the Asian region as its power ­declines relatively, while China’s defence budget is set to become the biggest in the world by 2050, says a leading Australian analyst.

Beijing-based Benjamin Herscovitch, a research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, says in a report published today that “the era of unrivalled US economic and military leadership lives on borrowed time”.

He warns that “perceptions of US unwillingness to act as a credible strategic counterweight to possible aggressors like China could unleash a toxic wave of militarisation, and potentially prompt particularly vulnerable Asian ­nations, most notably Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, to develop nuclear weapons”.

Traditional US allies and partners such as Australia and Japan will play an increasingly important role in keeping China in check, he says, as Washington ­becomes more dependent on their support. Beijing already fully understands that Canberra is firmly ensconced in the network of US allies and partners, and does not expect to separate Australia from this grouping, he says.
Herscovitch sees the transition “from a US-led order to a multi­polar international system, a balance of power between China, the US, India and ASEAN” — the latter centred around Indonesia.

Herscovitch says the US-­focused “hub-and-spokes” alliance mindset is unsustainable. “Although the US will remain an indispensable security provider for its allies and partners, Washington will not be able” to offer broader guarantees for Asia as a whole, including the freedom of commerce and of navigation.

This will require “other means of reducing the likelihood of conflict and imposing sufficiently high costs on states that threaten the region’s peace and security”.

One such means is the development of the military strength of “the US pole of power” — its regional allies: Japan, South Korea, The Philippines, Thailand and Australia. These five, with the US, are expected to be spending on defence 110 per cent of China’s military budget in 2050.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/us-leadership-in-asia-on-borrowed-time-says-benjamin-herscovitch/story-e6frg9fo-1227043024076

2 comments

We don't have to do anything.

Our total armed forces combined would only fill the MCG to 75%.

We are very weak and under equipped.

We can't afford more because we have too much/many governments to support.

Our armed forces are being rebuilt after being run down in the past six years ..We needs strong Alliances and encourage the US not to retreat back into isolation. 

You listen and believe the news dished out to you.......you stupid learn to read between the lines

Someone who wears a skirt and blows a pipe shouldn't be calling others stupid with gay abandon

After Russia's invasion of the Ukrain we are  the closest we have ever been to a real war in Europe..

The US theUK and Russia guaranteed the Ukraines integrity after they gave up nuclear weapons . Now Russia has invaded the Ukraine . What is Obamas response . He is "concerned" . 

2 comments



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