Professor Yee-Kuang Heng‘s article on cross-regional defence cooperation connecting the Atlantic-Pacific was published by Australian Journal of International Affairs.
ABSTRACT
Cross-regional combined military exercises (CMEs), many involving the United States, its European allies and Indo-Pacific partners, are proliferating. These encompass everything from bilateral ‘goodwill’ Japan-Germany maritime exercises, British troops conducting combined arms live-firing exercises in Super Garuda Shield, to high-end multilateral aerial drills hosted by Australia in Pitch Black, which has become a focal point for long-range European air power projection. In the face of deepening strategic competition, CMEs can deliver effects lasting beyond the closing ceremony. They help pave the way to ‘hard’ defence goals including deterrence and reassurance, interoperability and readiness, access and basing rights, while advancing ‘softer’ goals such as regional order-building and threat alignment. This discussion paper focuses upon CMEs and the functional modalities necessary to implement cross-regional defence cooperation connecting the Atlantic-Pacific. Understanding politico-strategic nuances are critical in navigating partnership engagement dynamics. It therefore considers issues of agency, symmetry and initiative that have emerged when managing cross-regional defence partnerships, while reflecting on the logistical, legal, political, operational practicalities of organising for partner success.
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