Navigating Geopolitics: Australia and the Malabar Exercise - By: Tyler Whitney 1

together to cooperate on military strategy, it makes China Navigating Geopolitics: ask, "who are you preparing to fight, exactly? Who is it that you think needs to be kept in check?" The possible Australia and the Malabar negative reaction from China is a good reason for India to proceed cautiously. Including Australia in the exercise Exercise would be viewed as a challenge to Chinese naval power in the region. Note that India has never floated the idea of By: Tyler Whitney including China in the exercise. Whenever countries act on their geopolitical codes, there 02/20/2020 must be an acceptable reason for it. The point of the exercise is "to enhance cooperation and inter-operability, based on shared values and principles." This notion of shared values and principles is common when it comes to how states justify geopolitical codes. The cooperative relationship between the U.S., Japan, and India has a way of making sense when thought of in terms of mutual values, as long as they can convince their domestic audience.

US aircraft and missile carriers Carl Vinson, Bunker Hill, and Halsey alongside other Indian navy ships in Exercise Malabar

By: Tyler Whitney Like every geopolitical actor, India must identify their allies and include plans to strengthen those relationships. One outlet for this is the Malabar exercise, an annual occasion of naval cooperation hosted by India. Whether or not India will invite Australia to participate this year is relevant because the guest list for this party is one expression of India's geopolitical code.

“Exercise Malabar” consists of practicing a variety of drills, maneuvers, and scenarios in different locations in the Pacific Ocean. The content of the exercise is changed up every year. The big question this year is whether India will invite Australia to participate. In the past, participants have included Australia, Singapore, the U.S., and Japan. The U.S. and Japan are regular participants in the exercise, but the expansion of the arrangement to permanently include Australia is considered a provocative prospect by China. The annual exercise represents a mutual understanding between the US, Indian, and Japanese navies. The exercise itself isn't a large affair: a total of eight vessels participated last year. But the importance of the Malabar exercise (and the reason its challenging to China) is how it answers the questions: who are our allies now? How can we foster our relationship with them? Geopolitical codes are tricky, perhaps even delicate. When you have a position towards one country, it implies a position towards another. When seeing these countries get