Professor David Kilcullen and Malcolm Turnbull AC led assessment of Australia's place in an increasingly volatile global landscape.
The state of global security is at its worst in decades, marked by escalating conflicts, fragmented power and increased geopolitical tensions, experts warned at UNSW-hosted forum this week.
The Sovereignty and Security Forum, hosted by UNSW Prof. David Kilcullen and Malcolm Turnbull AC , brought together leading decision-makers, researchers and policy thinkers to examine what Australia can and must do to secure its sovereignty in this age of disruption.
The audience at the National Press Club heard that Australia must adapt to a world where long-held alliances are under pressure, and where supply chains for crucial goods are increasingly compromised.
Professor of War Studies at UNSW Canberra, former solider, diplomat and military strategist David Kilcullen, said Donald Trump's presidency was a 'wake-up' call to Australia.
"Donald Trump is a global chaos agent. But from a strategic standpoint, President Trump doesn't really matter," Prof. Kilcullen said.
"The acute issues raised by the Trump presidency are symptoms of a chronic problem that Australians must address: a generational, century-shaping set of circumstances that risk destroying our way of life if we don't face up to them."
From alliances to autonomy: Australia's strategic challenge
Prof. Kilcullen served 25 years for the Australian and US governments as a soldier, diplomat and intelligence analyst. He said it was time for a national conversation to strengthen Australia's resilience.
"We live in a dangerous neighbourhood, in an increasingly unstable global system, a very long way from friends and allies," Prof. Kilcullen said.
"We're a maritime trading nation with global economic interests separated by vast distances from critical markets and sources of supply. I don't need to remind you if you filled your car up with petrol recently, we rely on fragile international systems such as energy flows, transport systems and globalised just-in-time manufacturing.
"The cold, hard fact - the grown-up reality we need to reckon with as a nation - is that nobody is coming to save us. Not the United States, not under this president or any other. Not anybody."
A more dangerous world - and a muted response at home
The Forum's co-host, former prime pinister Malcolm Turnbull, warned that while Australia was facing a far more dangerous and uncertain world, the national response hadn't reflected the seriousness of the situation.
"There are no issues more important facing Australia today than the ones that we are discussing," Mr Turnbull said.
"A year into the second Trump Administration, it is very plain the United States is under very different management. 'Might makes right' is not just the subtext, it is the headline."
Mr Turnbull warned that Australia needs to urgently reassess its strategic position in light of the changing global order.
"We are living in a very different environment and we're reminded of that with the war currently underway between Israel, America, Iran and increasingly, Iran's neighbours," he said.
"So how does Australia respond to that? Ironically, we have made ourselves more dependent on the United States than ever.
"So far, we have seen little or no reaction from Canberra and very little public debate about the implications for Australia. This discreet silence carries with it grave risks that the Australian people are neither aware of, or prepared for, the dangers of our disrupted world. Hope is not a strategy."
Shaping Australia's defence capability
UNSW Canberra Dean & Rector Professor Emma Sparks said the forum underscored the University's leading role in defence education, applied research and strategic engagement.
"Our world today is defined by accelerating geopolitical shifts, technological disruption, and a strategic environment that is both more interconnected and more contested than at any time since the end of the Cold War," Prof. Sparks said.
" UNSW Canberra sits at the intersection of government, the Australian Defence Force and industry. We are one of the few institutions in the country with both the academic depth and the operational proximity to meaningfully contribute to how Australia thinks about security and sovereignty - not just as policy concepts, but as things that must be designed, built and sustained."
Prof. Kilcullen said the current strategic environment demanded a clear-eyed approach to Australia's preparedness, including planning for scenarios without allied support.
"If we want greater agency in the world, greater respect from allies and adversaries alike, and greater resilience to shocks like the ones we're currently experiencing, we must build the resilience resources and sovereign self-reliance to stand on our own," he said.
"Time is running out fast. This is not a moment for business as usual, and we owe the Australian people an honest accounting of where things stand."
