Too many people in Washington and Canberra presume that the strategic challenge from China alone will make defense coordination within the alliance easy. The reality is that it could sharpen contradictions around the kind of operational planning that will be needed to enhance deterrence. Australian and American defense strategies, while closely aligned, are not identical. To build the alliance will require aligning resources, building complementary regional relationships, and investing in resilience.

As the United States and the ROK prepare to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of their security and defense alliance in 2025, forging a durable technology alliance is going to become an increasingly critical element of their cooperation.

China’s expanding military strength poses serious questions for the United States, Australia, and their allies. The increasing assertiveness in the region by China necessitates serious preparation on the part of Washington and Canberra in the advent of Chinese coercive action. This paper lays out three hypothetical scenarios of Chinese aggression and proposes ways the U.S. and Australia can strengthen their collective response.

Korean Power (K-Power)—a new comprehensive approach to tackling South Korea’s challenges through economic, technological, military, and cultural power—has been on the rise over the past 20 years, dominated by advanced manufacturing, high-tech exports, and increasingly sophisticated military power.

Officials are right to be alarmed.

Thirty years ago, the idea that China could challenge the United States economically, globally, and militarily seemed unfathomable. Yet today, China is considered a great power. How did China manage to build power in an international system that was largely dominated by the United States? What factors determined the strategies Beijing pursued to achieve this feat?