Indo-Pacific getting more dangerous as rules-based order collapses

Since the Second World War, Australia’s regional strategy has been based on a simple assumption that the US would support an international “rules-based” order that limited coercion, stabilized trade routes and gave middle and smaller powers room to manoeuvre.

This has become even more evident as China has resurged, with US help, first as an economic power and, over the past 20 years, as a military power determined to regain its sphere of influence.

US inaction and evasion in Ukraine and Gaza have only grown stronger since the re-election of Donald Trump, and its recent unrepentant disregard for norms in Venezuela is rapidly eroding faith in international rules and law.