Sleepwalk to War: Australia's Unthinking Alliance with America

This is event is free for AIIA Qld members. Non-members pay $10 and student non-members $5.

You can attend this event in-person or view it online. If attending in person, please arrive at Holding Redlich at 5:30pm for registration and drinks.

Details for viewing online: After registering, on July 7 you will receive a follow-up confirmation email containing further details on how to join the webinar which will commence at 6.00pm AEST. If you have not received an email by early afternoon, please check your junk folder. Interstate AIIA members can also view online for free. Please speak to your branches about receiving the discount code to ensure you aren't charged for your ticket.

Is the US–Australia alliance now based on a fantasy?

In this gripping essay, Hugh White explores Australia's fateful choice to back America to the hilt and oppose China. What led both sides of politics to align with America so absolutely? Is this a case of sleepwalking to war? What tests might a new government face?

White assesses America's credibility and commitment, by examining AUKUS, the Quad, Trump and Biden. He discusses what the Ukraine conflict tells us about the future. And he argues that the US can neither contain China, nor win a war over Taiwan. So where does this leave our future security and prosperity in Asia? Is there a better way to navigate the disruption caused by China's rise?

This is a powerful and original essay by Australia's leading strategic thinker.

"Canberra's rhetoric helps raise the risk of the worst outcome for Australia: a war between China and America, in which we are likely to be involved. Over the past decade, and without any serious discussion, Australian governments have come to believe that America should go to war with China if necessary to preserve US primacy in Asia, and that Australia should, as a matter of course, go to war with it."

Banner image: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website