International Journal

Publisher:
Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:
2021-08-12
ISBN:
0020-7020

Latest documents

  • Strategic hedgers? Australia and Canada's defence adapation to the global power transition

    The intensification of rivalries between the US and China, and, in recent years, between the US and Russia, has deeply affected how middle powers relate to these great powers. Scholars have argued that middle powers are increasingly adopting “hedging” strategies to maximize their benefits and limit the consequences of the great power competition for their security and status. This paper revisits the concept of hedging and assesses whether two prominent US allies—Australia and Canada—have resorted to hedging in place of conventional alternatives like bandwagoning and balancing. The paper systematically compares Australia's and Canada's threat perceptions and defence policies to ascertain whether they have shifted their policies in the wake of the US's relative decline. Since our study began, in 2008, we have found instances where the two allies resorted to hedging. However, evidence shows that when pressured to make a choice, Australia and Canada have closed ranks with the US against revisionist powers. Our paper suggests that threat perceptions play a fundamental role in this. Going forward, it would suggest that the US is in a stronger position than commonly assumed. As the competition between Washington and revisionist great powers increases, the former's ability to build credible coalitions is expected to improve as it will rely on more dependable allies.

  • Are Shared Values Valuable? Liberal Democracy and Human Rights among AUKUS and its Future Membership*

    Do shared values make a military partnership attractive to potential member countries and strengthen perceptions of that partnership's deterrent effects? While military cooperation attracts potential members through strategic benefits such as military capabilities, recent security cooperation initiatives like AUKUS emphasize liberal democratic values and human rights as their core values. This study focuses on Japan as a potential member of AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific region and explores how the Japanese public evaluates Japan's future participation in AUKUS and the agreement's anticipated deterrence effects. The results indicate that emphasizing liberal democratic values does not boost support for AUKUS or reinforce a belief in the agreement's ability to deter potential enemies. However, the findings highlight the connection between support for security cooperation and the expansion of membership, irrespective of regime types. In particular, the domestic audience exhibits selective attitudes towards South Korea, a democratic government that should be an important candidate for partnership. These findings suggest a cynical view among third-party audiences regarding the efficacy of shared values in security cooperation, as well as a double standard among the Japanese in shaping new security cooperation in the region.

  • The AUKUS umbrella: Australia-US relations and strategic culture in the shadow of China's rise

    In September 2021, Australia, the US, and the United Kingdom entered into a new trilateral security pact, AUKUS. Central to AUKUS is Australia acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, scheduled to begin delivery in the 2030s. AUKUS was announced by Australia's previous conservative government, but it has also won the strong support of the new Labor government. The rationale behind AUKUS emphasizes growing security challenges in the Indo-Pacific and the advantages of joint capabilities and interoperability in the context of China's growing assertiveness in the region. This article examines AUKUS through the lens of China's rise and the contradictory economic and security imperatives that the agreement poses for Australia. We argue that AUKUS is the latest expression of Australia's strategic culture, which is premised on a fear of abandonment and a conviction that Australia's core security interests can only be guaranteed by the support of the US. Yet this position harbours risks that are not widely acknowledged. These include risks to Australia's sovereignty and other risks arising from the uncertainties of the US position in Asia and the volatility of US domestic politics.

  • Book Review: Peacebuilding Legacy: Programming for Change and Young People’s Attitude to Peace
  • Why AUKUS and not CAUKUS? It's a Potluck, not a Party
  • Book Review: Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
  • Guest Editor's Introduction: AUKUS among Democracies
  • Book Review: Euromissiles: The Nuclear Weapons that Nearly Destroyed NATO
  • Book Review: Socialist Yugoslavia and the Non-Aligned Movement: Social, Cultural, Political, and Economic Imaginaries
  • Book Review: Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq

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