Writer
Peter Varghese
Peter Varghese AO is Chancellor of The University of Queensland and a former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Director-General of Australia’s peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments.
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How we can live with a weaker US
We must not exchange American hegemony for a dominant China. A new regional balance of power is the best answer. Continue reading »
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US primacy is desirable but it is not a vital Australian interest
We are now in a world where the competition for primacy between the US and China is a defining feature of our strategic environment. That competition will co-exist with the emergence of a more multipolar region where large powers such as India, Japan and Indonesia will also seek to assert their own interests. It will Continue reading »
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China seeks client states not ideological conquests
Australia came away from the G7 meeting in Cornwall comforted by the support of others. But joint statements tend elegantly to fudge differences and do not absolve us from reaching our own conclusions and crafting our own strategies. Continue reading »
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What should Australia do to manage risk in its relationship with the PRC? (China Matters 26.6.20)
The biggest challenge facing Australia’s strategic policy is to help craft a new strategic equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific. It must reflect the reality of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economic and strategic weight. Continue reading »
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Dealing with China
China will look to play a greater role in existing institutions and to craft new institutions and arrangements which place it at the centre in a pattern perhaps reminiscent of the Middle Kingdom … We must continue to pursue policies designed to avoid invidious choices [between China and the US]. Continue reading »