Sleepwalk to War

Is the US-Australia alliance now based on a fantasy?

In this essential essay, Hugh White explores Australia's fateful choice to back the United States to the hilt, and oppose China. How did we come to this position - what led both sides of politics to align with America so absolutely?

White considers the wisdom of the choice in relation to AUKUS, Taiwan, the Quad, Biden and Trump. Can America's containment strategy hope to succeed? Can America bear the burden of our dependence on it? If not, where does this leave our future security and prosperity? Is there a better way to navigate the disruption caused by China's rise?

This is a dramatic and original essay by Australia's leading strategic thinker.

About the Author

Hugh White is the author of The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power and Quarterly Essay 39 Power Shift: Australia’s Future between Washington and Beijing.

He is a professor of strategic studies at ANU and has been an intelligence analyst with the Office of National Assessments, a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, a senior adviser to Defence Minister Kim Beazley and Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and a senior official in the Department of Defence, where from 1995 to 2000 he was deputy secretary for strategy and intelligence and co-author of Australia’s Defence White Paper 2000.