Professor Bec Strating1, Dr Michael Clarke2, Dr Emily Foley3
1La Trobe University, Australia, 2Deakin University, Australia, 3Flinders University, VIC
Biography:
Bec Strating is the Director of La Trobe Asia and a Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University. Dr Michael Clarke is Senior Lecturer at the Deakin Centre for Future Defence and
Abstract:
National Security (CFDNS), Canberra.
Strategic narratives are an important political resource for political leaders as they seek to influence international and domestic publics of the legitimacy of their actions and policies. Since the announcement of the AUKUS trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in September 2021, much debate has occurred about the nature if the agreement, why it emerged, and its role in encouraging regional and global (in)security. This paper analyses 630 speeches, radio and broadcast interviews and op eds by leaders of Australia, the US and the UK entirely or partially on the subject of AUKUS from 2021 until the end of 2023. Using two qualitative data analysis approaches – content analysis and thematic analysis – it identifies the key narratives that the three actors have used to explain and justify AUKUS and demonstrates how and why these have evolved over time. This paper demonstrates that the political justifications for AUKUS from the three states have relied heavily on normative and values-based narratives that promote an idealised vision of global order based on shared values. While the emerging ‘security challenges’ facing the Indo-Pacific are a dominant explanation, AUKUS narratives consistently centres on the shared ‘values’ held by ‘like-minded states’ in supporting the international ‘rules-based order’. The analysis also shows a consistent effort to persuade domestic and international publics of the member states’ commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and responsible nuclear stewardship.