Line of Defence Magazine - Spring 2021

Kia ora and welcome to the Spring 2021 – and 21st – issue of Line of Defence. It’s been a big few months in the Defence and National Security space. As I write this Editor’s Note I’m particularly conscious\nof the announcement just a couple of days ago of the new AUKUS trilateral security partnership between the US, UK and Australia. It’s a big announcement, and one that the Morrison Government is making much positive noise about, not least because it stands to take eventual delivery of 12 nuclear powered attack submarines. While there is much dust yet to settle on this, the key takeaway at this point is that AUKUS provides strong indication that a post-Afghanistan US and a post-Brexit UK are doubling down on their focus on the Indo Pacific, a strategic intention highlighted by Dr Wayne Mapp in his AUKUS focused article in this issue of Line of Defence...