The Continent in Between: Australia’s Quest for Strategic Literacy in the Post-Trump Indo-Pacific

Strategic literacy calls for an understanding of the given region’s geopolitical cultures as a tool for 21st century statecraft and strategic policy settings. Australia, in its drive to shape its strategic environment in the post-Trump Indo-Pacific, will need to expand its strategic literacy skills. While Australia is between two oceans geographically, as well as straddling a cultural and historical divide between Europe and Asia, the ideological competition between the US and China has also divided Australia in terms of security and economic interests. A quest for strategic literacy has already begun via the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - comprising Australia, Japan, India and the US - but it needs to expand to a deeper understanding of Chinese strategic thought. This is vital for Australia’s immediate needs. A similar process applied to other geopolitical cultures in the longer term would allow for a more inclusive view of the strategic landscape. This would confer on Australia the advantage of a more inclusive perspective from which policy may proceed.