Sam Roggeveen's ' The Echidna Strategy ' is a great direction for the future of Australia's role in the Indo-Pacific and its international relationships, writes Tyler Brusamarello . THE ECHIDNA – writes Roggeveen – is the oldest surviving mammal (part of the Monotremes family along with the beautiful Platypus) and is a solitary creature that poses no threat to anything (aside from its diet of ants and termites). Still, its sharp quills warn potential predators to keep their distance as the costs of attack are not likely to be worth the benefits.
Australia's geography and location in the world give a natural advantage to direct attacks from potential enemies. However, as a middle power nation located 7,000 kilometres away, it can only dream of being a direct military threat to the rising (if not already) biggest superpower nation in the region — China. While current policies, political discourses and alliances have aimed more at antagonising this superpower, Roggeveen asks the reader to take a more realistic and conservative stance.
USUKA: The hidden history of AUKUS With Scott Morrison's exit from politics, his legacy includes the very expensive and useless AUKUS deal, dubbed the 'worst deal in all history'. He urges Australia to adopt the defence mentality of an echidna by highlighting America's lack of motivation to continually compete with China in the Asia region and the unlikelihood that it would come to Australia's aid in a worst-case scenario war with China. Rogg.