Michael Wesley’s essay in AFA4: Defending Australia, “Dangerous Proximity”, is a pleasure to read. However, some of his judgements are made too confidently, and some internal contradictions in the piece are confusing.
Michael’s article is a reminder that for decades Australia has lacked a national security strategy beyond hoping that a “great and powerful friend” will come to the rescue in the event of conflict. In retrospect, this approach worked. But I agree that it is no longer viable when the Indo-Pacific is emerging as one of the most important theatres of great power competition.