Link: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/natural-allies-not-frankenstein-pact-call-for-australia-to-join-nato-style-pacific-alliance-20260217-p5o2yq.html

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Australia, the United States, Japan and the Philippines should establish a formal NATO-style defence alliance to counter China’s growing military power in Asia, according to a former top adviser to Joe Biden.

Ely Ratner, who served as Biden’s assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, also urged the Albanese government to significantly increase military spending to ensure that AUKUS does not cannibalise the defence budget and drain resources for other important investments.

[...]

He said he was concerned by Donald Trump’s lack of focus on competition with China and that he feared the US president could make damaging concessions to Beijing when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this year.

“The threat is mounting from China. China’s ambitions have not moderated. It is building a military to be able to dominate the Indo-Pacific, and it has ambitions for which only combat-credible deterrence will prevent conflict in the Indo-Pacific,” Ratner said in an interview.

[...]

This had a plausible basis in reality prior to Trump 2.0. That basis is now a burning pile of toxic sludge left in a trash heap somewhere in the central pacific. If Trump is actively trying to undermine and shatter the existing NATO, why tf would he or anyone be interested in a new one in the east with the US anytime prior to a complete and total political restructuring of the US?

Fortunately I foresee a complete and total political restructuring occurring in the US in the near future. Unfortunately I doubt it's the kind we'd be looking for in a defence partner.