Australia is one of the US’s closest allies, and its interest in America’s role in the world is both direct and immediate. Regardless of who wins the election,the US is not about to disengage from the world. Still, there are possibilities for important shifts in US strategic behaviour.

‘Alternative Americas’ exist, and we explore some of them in this paper—in particular the idea of the US as a non-hegemonic power. This paper, authored by Rod Lyon, explores the idea that US global leadership faces new constraints.  We are entering a period when global leadership will increasingly be a shared, rather than a solitary, condition. And that condition will shape our own policies.

The bilateral relationship between Australia and the US will remain strong whoever is president. But its texture might be profoundly influenced by the outcome of the election: with one of the candidates promising more of a post-partisan world, Australia might have to work harder to maintain its influence in Washington.