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The Indo-Pacific? The Quad? Please explain ...
Posted By Graeme Dobell on April 9, 2018 @ 06:00
practical steps to enhance cooperation in the areas of connectivity and infrastructure development; counter-proliferation; counter-terrorism; maritime security, maritime domain awareness and HA-DR [humanitarian assistance–disaster relief].
It makes a space for four like-minded trading democracies to share their thoughts on regional security. The high-level discussions add another layer of co-operation to the intersecting bilateral and multilateral activities in place across the region. Defence exercises, particularly naval exercises, with these countries and others in the region also play a critical role in building operational understanding and confidence which in turn is vital for the security of the Indo-Pacific.
China’s power and influence are growing to match, and in some cases exceed that of the US. The future balance of power in the Indo-Pacific will largely depend on the actions of the US, China and major powers such as Japan and India.
In essence, the Quad has already done the job its proponents want it to do: sending a warning to China. This warning is not to be underestimated given the legitimate concerns about Chinese strategic behaviour in recent years. Such is the meaning behind the euphemism of showing ‘strength in numbers’. The problem with the Quad is that no matter how important or symbolic this gesture, sooner or later the lack of real substance in its strategic intent will show.
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’
‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master—that’s all.’
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[1] national security strategy: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf
[2] national defence strategy: https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf
[3] ‘an organising principle for US foreign policy’: https://www.csis.org/analysis/pacnet-18-making-indo-pacific-real
[4] second coming of the Quadrilateral: http://dfat.gov.au/news/media/Pages/aus-india-japan-us-consultations-on-the-indo-pacific.aspx
[5] 9th trilateral meeting of India, Japan and the US: http://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/29744/IndiaJapanUS+Trilateral+Meeting
[6] 2013 defence white paper: http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper/2013/
[7] 2016 defence white paper: http://www.defence.gov.au/WhitePaper/Docs/2016-Defence-White-Paper.pdf
[8] 2017 foreign policy white paper: https://www.fpwhitepaper.gov.au/
[9] ‘valuable complementary role’ of the reborn Quad: http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/why-labor-believes-the-quad-is-important-to-asean-20180315-h0xhtc
[10] James Curran: http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/01/28/all-shot-and-no-powder-in-the-quadrilateral-security-dialogue/
[11] Ankit Panda: https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/us-japan-india-and-australia-hold-working-level-quadrilateral-meeting-on-regional-cooperation/
[12] new ‘instrument of hard containment’.: https://www.iiss.org/en/iiss%20voices/blogsections/iiss-voices-2018-2623/january-c361/the-revived-quad-opportunity-for-the-us-ab39