On Tuesday, 10 December, join ASPI for an in-depth discussion exploring NATO’s presence in the Indo-Pacific, and the ways it is working alongside regional partners such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

This special event will feature opening remarks from H.E. Boris Ruge, Assistant Secretary General, Political Affairs and Security Policy, NATO, followed by a conversation with ASPI’s Dr Euan Graham. Together, they will discuss the priorities of NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Indo-Pacific and the future of NATO in relation to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its broader impact on our region.

As the world faces multiple overlapping security crises and rising geopolitical tensions for the foreseeable future, relations with like-minded partners are becoming ever more important. The welcome focus of NATO’s leadership on the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security means that increasing attention is being paid to broad partnerships between countries with shared values and a strong interest in seeing aggression deterred and global rules observed.

As one of the four Indo-Pacific countries—known as the IP4—that maintain special relations with the North Atlantic alliance, Australia has a clear role in promoting these forms of co-operation to tackle the malign growth in co-operation between many of the world’s leading autocracies, including the support to Russia’s war against Ukraine from China, North Korea and Iran.

As Mr Ruge said recently: “The Euro-Atlantic theatre and the Indo-Pacific theatre are more connected than they have been as a result of this Russian war of aggression, and we respond to that by intensifying our co-operation with the IP4.”