Heather Cox Richardson

December 9, 2022

On Wednesday, December 7, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III hosted the defense ministers of Australia and the United Kingdom at the Pentagon to discuss the Australia–United Kingdom–United States Security Partnership, called AUKUS.

AUKUS is a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was formally introduced on September 15, 2021, and commits the three partners to cooperate on a wide range of security issues, including cybersecurity. Because it focuses on military capabilities, it is separate from the older intelligence-sharing alliance that includes all three of the same countries, as well as New Zealand and Canada.

That intelligence-focused group is called Five Eyes and has its roots first in secret meetings of U.S. and British code breakers in 1941, and then in the more formal sharing of intelligence to streamline cooperation during World War II. The conviction that democracies needed to share information during the Cold War broadened the alliance to include Australia and New Zealand as countries who could see certain intelligence. The name came from a term used in the classification of secret documents: "AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US EYES ONLY" was easier to say as “Five Eyes.”

The organization of AUKUS is separate from Five Eyes. It is part of the Biden administration’s focus on the Indo-Pacific region, seeking to support a region that is “stable, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty,” as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong put it on Tuesday in a different forum. Wong added: “U.S. engagement in the Indo‑Pacific makes an indispensable contribution to such a region…and I want to commend the administration for its significant investments in the Indo‑Pacific” alongside increased efforts on the part of Australia.

The U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific is designed to counterbalance the power and influence of China in the region. That focus has included U.S. investment there, as well as high-profile interactions with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—a political and economic alliance that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, informally known as the Quad, which is a strategic security dialogue including Japan, Australia, India, and the U.S.

Just today, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed the first 100 Quad Fellows, 25 from each Quad country, to study in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to promote “innovation and collaboration among our four great democracies and an enthusiasm for building a better tomorrow for the Indo-Pacific and the world.”

The organization of AUKUS last year created significant tension between the U.S. and France when Australia abruptly canceled a contract for a number of submarines built by France but powered by technology that reflects France’s limits on nuclear technologies. In place of the French submarines, which were running late and over budget as well, the Australians announced they would buy nuclear-powered submarines built with American technology.

Macron had made the Indo-Pacific, where France holds island territories, one of his priorities. He was angry at his country’s exclusion from discussions about the region, blindsided by the loss of the lucrative submarine contracts, and facing an election in which his chief opponent was a staunch nationalist who backs Russian president Vladimir Putin over the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

So, in the wake of the AUKUS announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron made a strong statement of outrage, and for the first time in our shared history, France recalled its ambassador to the U.S. for consultations—less serious than a permanent recall, but still a breach. It also recalled its ambassador to Australia for consultations, but in our case, it was an especially significant rebuke because we identify France as our oldest friend and ally because of its significant military aid during the Revolutionary War (although France-allied Morocco recognized American independence the year before French troops arrived).

It was likely in part to patch up that rift that when Biden finally held a full-scale official state visit, the first leader invited—the one given the pride of place—was Macron. The effusive reaffirmations of friendship between the countries reinforced Macron’s standing both in the U.S. and in Europe. (E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post observed that the two men “competed over who could say the nicest things about the alliance between the two countries—and about democracy, liberty and justice.&rdquo

But there was plenty of discussion in meetings about French concerns that regulations in the Inflation Reduction Act that require electric vehicle parts to be made in the U.S. will hurt France and Germany. Biden indicated that those restrictions were an attempt to make car batteries in the U.S. rather than depending on batteries from China, and could be tweaked to make sure they did not hurt allies. He said: “We’re going to continue to create manufacturing jobs in America, but not at the expense of Europe.”

Macron agreed, saying: “We want to succeed together, not against each other.”

On Tuesday, after that official state visit, Australia and the U.S. announced they were inviting Japan to integrate forces with the two countries, as Japan, too, worries about the power of China. The U.S. also said it would help to increase Australia’s military readiness.

On Wednesday, the AUKUS defense secretaries said they believed that AUKUS would “make a positive contribution to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by enhancing deterrence.” They called for increased surveillance technologies in the area and more work with defense and academic communities. They also promised “continued openness and transparency with international partners on AUKUS.”

Next week, from December 13 to December 15, President Biden will host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, inviting 49 African heads of state as well as the chair commissioner of the African Union, an organization of 55 African member states launched in 2002 to promote peace on the continent, advocate for the interests of the people of the continent in global affairs, promote sustainable development, and raise standards of living on the continent.

Today, Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post reported that the president is expected to announce that the U.S. supports the African Union’s membership in the G-20, an intergovernmental forum that includes most of the world’s largest economies and addresses issues important to the global economy. Those issues include climate change, financial policies, and international trade. Right now, the only country on the continent that is a member of the G-20 is South Africa, and it and other African nations have pushed for the African Union’s inclusion in the G-20, pointing out that African nations often bear the burden of decisions they were not part of making.

Judd Devermont, the White House National Security Council’s senior director for African Affairs, said in a statement: “It’s past time Africa has permanent seats at the table in international organizations and initiatives. We need more African voices in international conversations that concern the global economy, democracy and governance, climate change, health, and security.”

The administration’s determination to include all voices in global affairs is, in the short term, an effort to undermine China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region and Africa. But in the longer term, it should help our increasingly interconnected world to combat climate change and pandemic threats, while also reinforcing the idea that people have the right to consent to the government under which they live.