This joint project between RAND Australia and CSDR will explore how rethinking ‘strategic maps’ can inform defense stakeholders and the public about emerging regional deterrence challenges in the EIO. It aims to reevaluate how Australia, its allies, and like-minded partners such as India view the EIO, with a focus on essential defense industry capabilities, supply chains, and strategic base operations for regional deterrence. It emphasizes that, by strategically mapping interests and creating an ‘integrated strategic map’, we can pinpoint areas where defense priorities align and, importantly, where differences still exist.
This project directly addresses Priority Policy Question 4 of the Strategic Policy Grants Program (SPGP), “How might Indo-Pacific alliances and partnerships promote regional deterrence over the coming decade?”. By mapping opportunities for cooperation across peacetime, competition, grey-zone, and hot-conflict scenarios, the project will produce graduated options for policymakers in both countries. Its scenario-based methodology will test assumptions about preparedness and coordination mechanisms before the next crisis occurs. Additionally, and most importantly, it will identify no-go areas of cooperation so that existing policy can be informed by real potential. Findings will inform Australia’s ongoing force posture reviews, defense industrial strategy, and bilateral defense cooperation framework with India.
By rethinking how to strategically align Australia’s and India’s views on this sub-region, this project will deepen understanding of the areas of divergence and convergence between the two countries in regional deterrence and defense cooperation, both now and in the future.
This project is supported by a grant being provided under the Strategic Policy Grants Program (SPGP). The SPGP is a mechanism for Defense Australia to support independent research, events and activities to shape the Australian strategic debate, and support defense and strategic policy advice.
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