ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the importance of the America, Britain, Canada and Australia (ABCA) programme waned in the period immediately following the collapse of the former Soviet Union and how in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US, Britain and Australia’s neighbours, there has been a renewed emphasis on the programme. Defence policymaking in Canada is a particularly unique and complex undertaking because of its geographic attachment to the US. US defence policy and, in fact the US worldview changed considerably as a result of the attacks of 11 September 2001. The US-led war on terror, and especially the war against Iraq, represents a marked departure for US defence policy in a number of ways. The chapter concludes with a summary that considers how the ABCA partnership is likely to develop in the future and the implications this will have for the various members.
