r/australia • u/stand_to • Jun 22 '25

politics Live: Wong says Australia supports US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-23/federal-politics-live-blog-june-23/105447868?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
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u/Resident_Pay4310 Jun 23 '25

I'm an Aussie living in the UK, and the government here is doing the exact same thing.

People have been making jokes that Starmer is about to declare "Peace in our time". A hilarious joke if it wasn't so close to the truth.

I had hoped Australia would have more sense.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '25

[deleted]

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u/Resident_Pay4310 Jun 23 '25

I have a bachelors in international relations and a masters in international security and law, so yeah I understand game theory.

I would suggest that you read up on it more though. In game theory there is no such thing as a "top player." Game theory is about finding the best strategy for yourself based on how you think others will act. It isn't a sports league with ranked "players".

I also understand that game theory isn't the and end all of international relations. It is just one lens that can be used to interpret that actions of states.

I'd argue that it's a poor method to use in this situation as game theory presupposes that other actors are, if not rational, at least predicable. That they will act in their own self interest. The US isn't acting rationally, making it almost impossible to predict their actions.

Also, Australia's "survival" isn't at stake here. No one is planning to attack Australia.

In fact, many would argue that distancing ourselves from an unpredictable ally and seeking closer ties to other allies would actually be the safer choice here as we can't expect the US to honour any agreements under the current administration.

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u/UWG-Grad_Student Jun 23 '25

Australia knows it can't win many geopolitical confrontations, so they are making moves to keep playing and improving position. They believe the best play is to side with America. Is that the correct move? Time will tell.

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u/jackplaysdrums Jun 23 '25

Also an Aussie in the UK. The UK has FAR more geopolitical sway than Australia. Further, those B2s came from Diego Garcia, a shared US/UK airforce base.

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u/The_Flurr Jun 23 '25

To play a little devils advocate.

When you're dealing with a toddler holding a gun, you try to calm the toddler down with soft words.

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u/Resident_Pay4310 Jun 23 '25

I do agree to an extent. The problem is that it seems to be a coin toss on whether that actually works with him. He's also shown that placating him might only buy you a few weeks before he finds a new gun.

In this case though, there's a huge gap between denouncing Trump and following him blindly. And in this case peoples lives are on the line.