I would define strength, or closeness, of an alliance has having three components. (1) Reciprocity in the sharing of sensitive intelligence and military technology (2) Reciprocity in intervening , diplomatically or militarily, in matters that threaten U.S interest. (3) Ally geographically extends the reach of the U.S.
I’m sure there are lots of components, those three were the ones I could think on top of my head. What are your thoughts? What would be your list?
Australia would definitely be ahead of France and Israel, and I’m not sure about Germany. Are there still numerous US bases on German soil?
Australia has close military ties with the US, I understand that one of the considerations of any military purchase we make is it’s interoperability with US units. EG when looking for a replacement for our FA-18’s and F-111’s we didn’t even consider any Mig’s or other Russian aircraft for the very reason of being able to freely operate in conjunction with US forces.
The US has a couple of bases on Australian soil, which I believe are primarily staffed and run by US personnel, although they are ostensibly ‘joint’ operations. These are not outright ‘military’ posts though - Pine Gap is a satellite control centre, and communications hub, and other ‘spy’ related things if you believe the conspiracy theorists. There is a new base with a similar role in Western Australia.
Pretty much any combat theatre the US gets involved in, we seem to automatically tag along. i.e. Iraq & Afghanistan.
I have no doubt that if the US had to operate in this area for some reason we would allow free and unrestricted access to our bases and facilities to operate from.
As MPB has said, I would place Japan in front of France as well. Probably in front of Australia, as there are still US regular forces stationed in Japan I believe? It would depend I think on what emphasis you wanted to place on the types of assistance provided. Japan can’t provide ground troops to assist overseas for example, whereas Australia has, but Australia doesn’t have US troops permanently stationed on home soil.
In terms of military alliance, Canada is the closest, with integrated domestic commands and a common continental defense strategy (e.g. NORAD.)
The Anglosphere as a whole possesses the closest military and intelligence alliance in the world – the US, Canada, UK, Australia and (to a lesser extent) New Zealand cooperate on military and intelligence policy more closely than any other group of countries, due in large part to the ANZUS agreements.
NATO (which neither Australia nor New Zealand are members of) comes next, and that includes Germany (where there is still some US military presence). Israel and Taiwan, while both close military partners with the US, would be rather far down on the list, should global chaos break out.
INS, but I think you’ll find that American aircraft are favored because you’ve already got them, so avionics and the like will be familiar to pilots who trained on the existing F-111s and Hornets, and maintenance and repair procedures will be familiar to ground crews. The RAAF bought (British) BAe Hawk fast jet trainers in 2000.
The (UK) RAF and RN don’t have much of a problem operating in conjunction with American air wings, and they don’t have any US-sourced fighters (yet).
The US isn’t allowed to dock its nuclear wessels in NZ, but NZ still participates in ANZUS military exercises and there are Echelon-affiliated surveillance facilities in Waihopai among other places.
Hmmm… I know we still take part in exercises with Australia, and Oz exercises with the US, but I’d thought we didn’t exercise directly with the US since they suspended ANZUS obligations to New Zealand back in the mid-80s. (And called us a friend but not an ally – although that position seems to have thawed a bit in recent years).
Actually you may be right about that. I thought I had read something about ANZUS obligations between the US and NZ being restored in the 1990s, but I must have been confusing it with something else. According to the Wikipedia article, the withdrawal remains in effect.
Australia
…and that’s about it, as far as I am concerned. Israel, Taiwan and South Korea are just client states who know which side of their bread is buttered.
I guess you could add The Philippines as number three, but that’s stretching it a bit.
Well, France certainly would be on there (or better, treating our NATO allies as a unit). For those Aussies who were protesting that Australia ought to be on the list; well, you guys are sweethearts, yes, but we’re pragmatists and we go with the more powerful ally. France has thrice the population, GDP, and probably personnel in their military, as well as being a nuclear power.
