‘Too big to fail.’ How’s that for a bit of pressure on the AUKUS partnership on its first birthday?

In this episode, ASPI executive director Justin Bassi speaks with Becca Wasser, defence fellow and head of the Gaming Lab at the Center for a New American Security. Wasser says AUKUS is such an essential show of commitment between friends and allies that its failure would mean the failure of the US national defence strategy and potentially of the very idea of integrated deterrence.

They also talk about the Center for a New American Security’s war games, where failure is not just an option but is encouraged, and get into some deep questions about a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, including Australia’s role in deterrence and the million-dollar question—when might Beijing decide it’s the right time?