ABSTRACT
‘Strategic relationship’ describes the interaction between two independent states when applying national power in pursuit of their international goals. This chapter demonstrates that the US-Australia strategic relationship has evolved from more or less an adversarial position in the 19th century to an Australia largely dependent on the US during the Cold War to the interdependent partnership. It outlines three key features that underpin the strength and durability of the current US-Australia strategic relationship: ideological solidarity, informal institutionalization, and reliability. The chapter examines the evolution of the US-Australia strategic relationship from the end of the Vietnam War until the present. The post-Vietnam hangover of the 1970s and the pre-eminence of Australia’s policy of defence self-reliance in the 1980s and 1990s provided impetus to lessen its strategic dependence on the US. Australia’s Federation in 1901 began the process leading to the gradual emergence of an Australian grand strategy distinct from British policy, which allowed the possibility of strategic cooperation with the US.
