"AUKUS AND THE GOVERNANCE OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: BETWEEN COOPERATION AND SYSTEMIC COMPETITION"

Abstract

The study is set in a context marked by China¿s rise as a global power and the resulting adaptation of the security strategies of the United States and its allies. The Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement is interpreted as a minilateral response that combines advanced military capabilities, technological transfer, and new forms of deterrence, especially through the development of nuclear-powered submarines and cooperation in emerging technologies. By exploring its strategic functions, criticisms and international reactions from actors like the European Union, China, Japan and South Korea projects how AUKUS acts to maintain stability through power-balancing strategies and external balancing against a rising China, but it also shows how this unique deal helps to deepen the regional security dilemma, causing mutual distrust, militarization and disintegration of the governance architecture. Overall, this project explains how AUKUS not only acts as a tool of deterrence and structural tension but that it also reflects a broad change in international orders toward a more competitive, technology-centric world in the Indo-Pacific.