Quarterly Essay 98: On War and Peace and the New Global Order

What is Australia's place in the new global landscape?

In an era of rising danger for all, and dramatic choices for Australia, Hugh White explores how the world is changing and how Australia should respond.

We confront the world's deepest and most dangerous international crisis in generations. The old global order faces direct challenge in three crucial regions, including our own. War has already engulfed Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and the risk in East Asia grows. Under Donald Trump, America's retreat from global leadership will be both swifter and perhaps more dangerously erratic.

White explains the big strategic trends driving the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and where they will lead. He examines the dynamics of US-China rivalry in Asia, the risks that it will lead to war, and the new regional order which is already emerging. He explores Australia's responses to these crises, as reflected in the policies of Albanese's Labor and Dutton's Coalition - including AUKUS. He lays out in stark terms the hard choices ahead and explains how we can make our way in a very different world.