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After America: Australia and the new world order | Vantage Point Issue 1

“Through the turbulence of recent times, Emma Shortis has seen clearly and been right.” – Don Watson

“Emma Shortis is especially well-placed to describe the consequences for Australia of the restoration of Donald Trump.” – Nick Bryant

Is Australia’s Security at risk in today’s unstable world? What does a second Trump Presidency means for our future?

A Trump presidency is presenting unprecedented challenges in trade, foreign relations and defence policy. US expert, Dr Emma Shortis, explores what it means for Australia and what next steps governments can take to ensure safety, security and prosperity locally.

Australian political leaders have bent the knee at the altar of American global leadership for decades, placing the ANZUS treaty at the centre of the nation’s security. AUKUS has become the latest symbol of strategic solidarity. For Australia’s governments, of whatever political persuasion, America continues to define the global rules-based order.

Now that the American people have elected Donald Trump as the forty-seventh president, how will his presidency affect Australia’s foreign policy, trade, climate action and approach to human rights? More importantly, will Australia be able to act in its own interests, or will it simply defer to Trump’s idea of America?

Dr Emma Shortis draws on her long-standing research on America’s place in the world, her discussions with some of Australia’s most prominent policy-makers and commentators and her experience in America in the final days of the election campaign, to develop a picture of how the world is changing with a second Trump presidency and what choices Australia has in determining its own future.