The island continent of Australia lies between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In conjunction with the two main islands of New Zealand, Australia also represents the southern extremity of the first island chain that stretches down the East Asian littoral. Although Australia lies south of the Equator, it is a strategic actor in both the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, where it has interests congruent with those of others who need maritime protection.1 Alliance with the United States represents optimal security for Australia, as it does for Japan.
Japan and Australia, US allies at the top and the bottom of the first island chain, must cooperate more closely with each other, and with the United States, in order to strengthen the chain. Its weakest links are in the middle, in maritime Southeast Asia. Australia has influence among the ASEAN countries because of its long-standing defense connections there. These connections afford Australia a voice in Southeast Asian security affairs that Japan lacks, even though Japan's economic capacity far exceeds Australia's. In conjunction with economic support from Japan and elsewhere, Australia's defense ties with Indonesia could provide ways of helping to restore stability there. If Indonesia is to be reconstituted as a bulwark of resistance to Chinese hegemony in the South China Sea, it needs help from its friends in its hour of crisis.
The Southern Anchor during the Cold War
With the end of the Cold War, Australia's security needs have not changed greatly. Australia's interests still require seeing disputes resolved and a satisfactory power equilibrium struck at a distance, rather than on its shores.
Australia was an important part of an American-led global maritime coalition which brought down the Soviet Union. Australia was a reliable source of allied force increments, military access, and political and strategic cooperation in the Southeast Asia/Southwest Pacific area. While America needed allies hard up against the Soviet Union in order to bring maritime power to bear on a continental adversary, distant allies such as Australia were vital in enhancing the advantages of strategic mobility and flexibility.
Australia contributed forces to the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. In conjunction with the United Kingdom, Australia also played an important military role during in the Malayan Emergency and Indonesia's Confrontation of Malaysia. Australia, through its economic aid and defense co-operation programs, also contributed to political stability in the Southwest Pacific.
