NATO interaction with Australia and New Zealand in the context of the military-political containment of the Russian Federation and China

Abstract

The article examines the main areas of the NATO cooperation with Australia and New Zealand at the present stage within the framework of the anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda. The paper assesses the role which the partnerships with these countries play in implementing the Alliance’s strategic goals. The author examines the attempts of Washington and its allies to involve Canberra and Wellington in the employment of large-scale geopolitical projects in the space of the artificially formed Indo-Pacific region in order to organize a military-political deterrence of China. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the NATO cooperation with Australian and New Zealand with regards to Ukraine. The role of Canberra and Wellington in providing military assistance to Kiev is explored, and their contribution to various anti-Russian initiatives promoted by the North Atlantic Alliance is characterized. For the first time in Russian science, the author systematically studies the simultaneous participation of Australia and New Zealand in the NATO geopolitical projects aimed at military-political containment of Russia and China.
It is concluded that NATO will continue to interact with its Australian and New Zealand partners in the medium term on the anti-Russian and anti-Chinese basis. Despite the fact that it is not in the national interests of Australia and New Zealand to confront either China or Russia, they will participate in the projects which were aimed at containing these states and which were initiated by the United States and its NATO allies, since Australia and New Zealand will expect to receive certain dividends from their Western partners.