Australia and the U.S.: Shifting Seas in the New Indo-Pacific Details Event Categories: A conversation with Australia’s ambassador to the United States Australia enacted some of the strictest lockdowns and border closures during the pandemic, helping the country all but snuffing out COVID-19 but also limiting trade and tourism for a key player in global economic integration. Relations have grown testy with China, its main trading partner, while Australia’s participation in regional security initiatives like the U.S.-led Quad have hardened positions along ideological lines in the ever-shifting and complex Indo-Pacific region. With a new president in the U.S. and a sense of recovery taking hold in Australia, how durable is an alliance both have called foundational to peace and security in the region?