In a dangerous and uncertain world, what should US allies do? Draw closer to America, or pull away?

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When the United States under President Donald Trump is itself among the biggest drivers of danger and uncertainty, the answer seems obvious.

Canada's prime minster, Mark Carney, spelled it out with brutal clarity in his attention-grabbing speech at Davos in January and again speaking to the Australian parliament last week.

Middle powers like Canada and Australia must stop depending on Washington and start working more closely together to navigate a world in which the idea of a US-led rules-based order is a fiction.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he agrees with Carney. But there is a problem.

At a time when diplomatic realities, strategic imperatives and political expedience all suggest we should gently but firmly distance ourselves from Trump's America, AUKUS ties us tighter than ever.

The need to step back from our US entanglements is clearer than ever as Washington plunges headlong into major war with Iran without any coherent strategic purpose. The way AUKUS deepens those entanglements is neatly symbolised by the presence of three Australian AUKUS trainees on the US fast-attack submarine that sunk an Iranian warship last week.

The Albanese government has embraced AUKUS as the central pillar of its defence policy and a fundamental reframing of our entire strategic posture. But the future of AUKUS hangs on the whim of the most mercurial and mendacious figure in world politics.

Canberra breathed a huge sigh of relief when Trump declared AUKUS as "full steam ahead" in his meeting with Albanese in October. He seemed to brush aside the doubts and questions that have dogged AUKUS ever since Labor announced it would require the US to sell Australia at least three Virginia-class submarines.

But those doubts remain. They were apparently spelled out in the Pentagon's review of AUKUS completed just before Albanese's visit.

Neither Washington nor Canberra has been willing to say what it concluded, beyond admitting it raised concerns about how to "do AUKUS better".........

© Canberra Times