Australia prepares for U.S. decline.

Since World War II, U.S. military dominance has underpinned the Asia-Pacific region's prosperity and relative peace. So it's cause for concern when one of America's closest allies sees that power ebbing amid unstable nuclear regimes such as Pakistan and North Korea and the expanding military power of China.

But without sustained U.S. defense spending and focus on the Asia-Pacific, it's unclear which nation will ultimately dominate the region -- and that could have profound effects on security and trade. The clearest challenge comes from China, which the Pentagon estimates spent $105 billion to $150 billion in 2008 bulking up its forces. Australia also worries about instability among its Pacific island neighbors, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and emerging threats like cyber war.

Source: WSJ

Even if they put their whole budget towards their military they still cannot hold a candle to China or Russia.

It would take years to even get into the same league as a super power, it seems like it is a waste of money as they will be forced by necessity to ally with China if the US goes down.

reply to post by warrenb


Australia is correct to spend more and take increasing responsibility in response to poor American thinking.
I wonder if Australia would like to see Japan grow a nuclear arsenal as a counterweight to China...Japan oughta do it for their own sake, similarly, since mis-educated Americans no longer understand the world sufficiently to maintain a reliable foreign policy..."Don't tread on me" should read "Don't count on us"...