ANZUS treaty the hot topic for Yale researchers’ visit to CDU

Charles Darwin University (CDU) academics recently welcomed legal researchers from Yale University to offer guidance for an upcoming research project on the longevity of the ANZUS Treaty.

CDU Faculty of Arts and Society law lecturers Professor David Price and Dr John Garrick met Nick Barile and Andrew Smith in Darwin to discuss various models for potential treaties in the future, based on the ANZUS agreement.

Dr Garrick said the visit was a timely and beneficial opportunity to contribute an Australian perspective to international research.

“This US based research is fundamentally important to the alliance partners generally, and to the NT specifically, as it is pivotal to Australia’s defence strategy,” Dr Garrick said.

“It was great to speak with like-minded researchers on such an important topic for both countries. Collaborative research into existing treaties today will have a significant impact on the way these international agreements are approached in the future.”

The project will investigate whether the ANZUS Treaty, a security pact between Australia, New Zealand and America signed in 1951, remains ‘fit for purpose’ in the current era of new challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including the possibility of the Northern Territory hosting US B-52 bombers.

It will also study the AUKUS agreement, a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed in 2021 that would enable Australia to acquire nuclear powered submarines.

This is a second meeting with an American Ivy League University following Dr Garrick spending the ‘Fall Term’ at Princeton last year.

“These meetings are highly beneficial in promoting CDU research capability, setting the groundwork for the possibility of continuing research partnerships,” Dr Garrick said.

The potential of a conference or symposium at Yale to include CDU researchers was also discussed and is a possibility for 2024.

Two of Dr Garrick’s recent publications which connect to the Yale research topic include Canada’s new Indo-Pacific strategy | The Australian Naval Institute and The Antarctic Treaty System is on thin ice—and it’s not all about climate change .