Thanks Mick, nice to hear from the horses mouth so to speak.
There is no comparison between Ukraine & Australia. Ukraine has nearly twice the population of Australia, Australia is around 18 times larger than Ukraine, Russia is right on Ukraine border and has a history of subjugating Ukraine. Australia is around 7400 km from China and has no history of subjugation or invasion.
What Ukraine and Australia do have in common is that they are both democracies and believe in the rule of law. Neither Russia or China do. So despite the distance between us, Australia should be doing all that it can to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, now is not the time to be wringing our hands. Clearly our contribution is not going to be a game changer, but we should be providing all the support we can, without impacting our own defences and in a timely manner. I fear this is not the case.
I do not have a problem per se with Trump’s position in regard to alliance forces taking more responsibility for the own defences, America cannot be expected to carry the full load of western defence expectations for ever. However, the manner in which Trump has gone about achieving this, leaves much to be desired. Adding in the rhetoric about Greenland, Canada, Panama, Gaza and Ukraine/Russia leaves one to wonder just where the US is going. Alliances are left in tatters and we can only hope that this a temporary situation, although I suspect that trust has been broken.
In regards to Australia’s defence and AUKUS in particular, I do have slightly different point of view.
AUKUS should not be abandoned, with the exception of the supply of Virginia class SSN. Waiting another 6 years for a decision from the US as to whether any submarine will be supplied, which given the shortages they have, would appear to be another wasted 6 years. It would seem to me we have already wasted 10 years, the Collins class should have been getting replaced by now, instead they are going to be our first line of defence for another 10-20 years.
The French Suffren SSN may have been a better choice and more closely aligned to our abilities and these days our values.
It is possible that we are not going to receive any submarines in time for any potential conflict with China. There is talk about using B21 bomber as an interim measure. Given the current tensions in our region, would this be a suitable stop gap? I would expect that they would be retained after the arrival of appropriate submarines in the future.
Could we expect countries such as the Philippines & Vietnam to assist in reining in China’s ambition? Lining the coasts of the Philippines.& Vietnam with missiles such as the Tomahawk would severely dent China’s ambition in this direction
Thanks Mick for your great insights on Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for freedom. I found your comments on Taiwan very helpful - they built on your book White Sun War.
Thanks Mick, nice to hear from the horses mouth so to speak.
There is no comparison between Ukraine & Australia. Ukraine has nearly twice the population of Australia, Australia is around 18 times larger than Ukraine, Russia is right on Ukraine border and has a history of subjugating Ukraine. Australia is around 7400 km from China and has no history of subjugation or invasion.
What Ukraine and Australia do have in common is that they are both democracies and believe in the rule of law. Neither Russia or China do. So despite the distance between us, Australia should be doing all that it can to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, now is not the time to be wringing our hands. Clearly our contribution is not going to be a game changer, but we should be providing all the support we can, without impacting our own defences and in a timely manner. I fear this is not the case.
I do not have a problem per se with Trump’s position in regard to alliance forces taking more responsibility for the own defences, America cannot be expected to carry the full load of western defence expectations for ever. However, the manner in which Trump has gone about achieving this, leaves much to be desired. Adding in the rhetoric about Greenland, Canada, Panama, Gaza and Ukraine/Russia leaves one to wonder just where the US is going. Alliances are left in tatters and we can only hope that this a temporary situation, although I suspect that trust has been broken.
In regards to Australia’s defence and AUKUS in particular, I do have slightly different point of view.
AUKUS should not be abandoned, with the exception of the supply of Virginia class SSN. Waiting another 6 years for a decision from the US as to whether any submarine will be supplied, which given the shortages they have, would appear to be another wasted 6 years. It would seem to me we have already wasted 10 years, the Collins class should have been getting replaced by now, instead they are going to be our first line of defence for another 10-20 years.
The French Suffren SSN may have been a better choice and more closely aligned to our abilities and these days our values.
It is possible that we are not going to receive any submarines in time for any potential conflict with China. There is talk about using B21 bomber as an interim measure. Given the current tensions in our region, would this be a suitable stop gap? I would expect that they would be retained after the arrival of appropriate submarines in the future.
Could we expect countries such as the Philippines & Vietnam to assist in reining in China’s ambition? Lining the coasts of the Philippines.& Vietnam with missiles such as the Tomahawk would severely dent China’s ambition in this direction
This was great; I could have watched him interview you for another hour! Thanks as always for sharing your expertise.
Thanks Mick for your great insights on Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for freedom. I found your comments on Taiwan very helpful - they built on your book White Sun War.