Dr Charles Edel, Senior Adviser and Australia Chair, and Kathryn Paik, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC

A CSIS roundtable explicitly focused on how Australia is perceived in Washington strategic circles during US Indo-Pacific recalibration signals that Australian alliance credibility and positioning is being actively assessed at the highest US policy level. The event's emphasis on 'emerging challenges' and 'strengthen[ing] ties' in a 'rapidly changing' environment suggests Washington believes the bilateral relationship requires intentional reinforcement—a tacit indicator that the alliance is not on autopilot and that Australia's strategic leverage may be eroding without active management.