AUKUS
See also: Aukus
English
edit
Alternative forms
edit- Aukus (British form)
Etymology
editBlend of AU + UK + US; Acronym of Australia + United Kingdom + United States of America.; Coined in 2021
Pronunciation
editProper noun
editAUKUS
- (geopolitics, neologism) A security treaty between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; for the construction of nuclear submarines in Australia, and cooperation on cybersecurity and espionage technology; to contain the rise of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
- 2021 September 15, Scott Morrison, “Remarks by President Biden, Prime Minister Morrison of Australia, and Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom Announcing the Creation of AUKUS”, in White House[1]:
- And so, friends, AUKUS is born — a new enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. AUKUS: a partnership where our technology, our scientists, our industry, our defense forces are all working together to deliver a safer and more secure region that ultimately benefits all.
AUKUS will also enhance our contribution to our growing network of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region: ANZUS; our ASEAN friends; our bilateral strategic partners, the Quad; Five Eyes countries; and, of course, our dear Pacific family.
The first major initiative of AUKUS will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
- 2021 September 17, Joe Biden, Australia's decades-long balancing act between the US and China is over. It chose Washington[2], CNN:
- Although Australia, the UK, and US partnership, AUKUS, sounds strange with all these acronyms but it's a good one, AUKUS, our nations will update and enhance our shared ability to take on the threats of the 21st century just as we did in the 20th century: together. Our nations and our brave fighting forces have stood shoulder to shoulder for literally more than one hundred years. Through the trench fighting in World War I, the island hopping of World War II, during the frigid winters of Korea and the scorching heat of the Persian Gulf, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have long been faithful and capable partners, and are even closer today. Today we take another historic step to deepen and formalize cooperation among all three of our nations, because we all recognize the imperative of insuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term.
- 2021 September 18, Stephen M. Walt, “The AUKUS Dominoes Are Just Starting to Fall”, in Foreign Policy[3]:
- On Sept. 15, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia unveiled a new security partnership, with the less-than-euphonious acronym AUKUS. The three states are close allies of long standing, but the headline item in the new arrangement is a joint effort to equip Australia with a fleet of advanced nuclear-powered submarines. U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced plans for more extensive cooperation on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.
Those basic facts about AUKUS are pretty straightforward. But why it came together—and what it means—is more complicated and far more revealing about where the world is heading.
- 2021 September 19, “The strategic reverberations of the AUKUS deal will be big and lasting”, in The Economist[4]:
- AUKUS envisages a wide range of diplomatic and technological collaboration, from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, but at its core is an agreement to start consultations to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-propelled (though not nuclear-armed) submarines. One consequence of this is Australia cancelling a contract, worth tens of billions of dollars, signed in 2016 with France for diesel-electric submarines. In announcing AUKUS on September 15th with the prime ministers of Australia and Britain, Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson, President Joe Biden stressed that it was about “investing in our greatest source of strength—our alliances”.
- 2023 March 14, “AUKUS deal: Jim Chalmers announces $8 billion HMAS Stirling naval base expansion”, in ABC Premium News (wire feed), Sydney:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in the US to help announce the landmark AUKUS pact in San Diego this morning.