From Down Under to Top Center

For most of its history, Australia has floated on the edge of much of the western world’s mental map, a continent-sized island lying at the fringes of our traditional representations of the Asia-Pacific rim. This can be attributed as much to what Geoffrey Blainey famously phrased “the tyranny of distance” as to the enduring legacy of antiquated Cold War-era perceptions of Asia. Today, however, as the world’s center of gravity shifts from West to East, Australia’s position has swiveled from “down under” to “top center” in terms of geopolitical import. Fears at the Pentagon over the growing vulnerability of American forward bases to Chinese missile barrages have rendered Australia, with its strategic depth and logistical wherewithal, an ever more alluring tactical location. The combination of Australia’s prime geostrategic location, its staunch commitment to the U S alliance, and its growing enmeshment in the Asia-Pacific region have led some to venture that the U S -Australia relationship may well turn out to be this century’s “special relationship,” to the point at which it may in fact displace the U S -UK relationship in terms of scope and importance. In a similar fashion, the United States will only remain a global power if its strategic vision is buttressed by a transpacific, as well as by a transatlantic special relationship.