Over the last two decades, Australia has economically become a Southern Province of China. But now the trade relationship is fracturing. Australia’s military relationship with the US, such as the new AUKUS alliance, has raised Chinese ire.
The tensions between geography, economic interests and history is longstanding. Australia struggles to reconcile its location and economic self-interest which suggest an affinity with Asia and history and culture which identify with America and Europe. Whether the nation can straddle this barbed wire fence will shape our prosperity and security future.
atyajit Das is a financier, named in 2014 by Bloomberg as among the 50 most influential people in financial markets. He has held senior positions in banks and industry and now works as a consultant to investors and corporations globally.
He is also the author of Traders, Guns & Money (2006) , Extreme Money (2011) and A Banquet of Consequences (2015 and 2021) (published in North America as Age of Stagnation). He is also the author (with Jade Novakovic) of In Search of the Pangolin: The Accidental Eco-Tourist (2006). His latest book is Fortune’s Fool: Australian Choice (March 2022).
He appeared in Charles Ferguson’s 2010 Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job. He has spoken at the Sydney and Melbourne Writers Festival, Adelaide Festival of Ideas and Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas.