Australian Chief of Army, Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart, delivered a keynote address at the Land Forces Pacific (LANPAC) Symposium, emphasizing the responsibilities of allies and partners in preventing conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. Drawing lessons from the Peloponnesian Wars, Stuart emphasized that allies and partners have agency and influence, which come with great responsibility. He underscored the power and value of the strategic land power network in the Indo-Pacific and the importance of transparency, strategic empathy, and communication in averting war.
Themes and Messages:
● Allies and Partners Have Agency: Allies and partners are not merely bystanders in great power competition but have agency and influence, which come with great responsibility.
● Strategic Land Power Network is Powerful: The strategic land power network in the Indo-Pacific is a powerful collective, with significant hard power, but its value lies even more in its collective will and cohesion.
● Value Proposition of Land Power: The shared advantages of land power include presence, persistence, asymmetry, and versatility, which can be used to reduce the likelihood of conflict.
● Importance of Transparency, Strategic Empathy, and Communication: Deterrence relies on the deterrent being relevant and credible, and this can be accomplished with these attributes.
Key Quotes:
● "A lesson to be drawn, perhaps, is that allies and partners have agency and influence, and with these come great responsibility. And given what is at stake, it's incumbents, I should say, on all nations and all institutions of national power to will their agency and influence judiciously.”
● "The strategic land power network that we represent is quite remarkable when considered in its entirety."
● "The land power that we collectively generate is a force to be reckoned with. Its value proposition can be described by a set of five advantages that we individually and collectively share."
● "Enhancing our presence, our capacity to persist together, is, in my assessment, at least central to any collective theory of success, and is vital in deterring conflict."
● "Deterrence relies on the deterrent being relevant and credible. And of course, relevance and credibility are relative to the operating environment"
Q&A Highlights:
● Leveraging Strengths and Addressing Weaknesses: In response to a question about the Australian Army's capabilities, Stuart emphasized the importance of leveraging key strengths, particularly the training and development of the NCO corps.
● The Art and Science of Deterrence: Stuart emphasized that deterrence is a day-by-day proposition, that depends on the potential adversary's perception of the deterring force.
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