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–Oscillating between democratic administrations and the private sector, the diplomat, very focused on Asia, led the negotiations on the United States side.–
Without him, the Aukus Pact might never have seen the light of day. Because Kurt Campbell, 64, is not only Joe Biden’s “Asian man” – officially coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). He is also, as the Australian press wrote when he was appointed in January, the “Australia’s best friend in Washington”. Nourished by personal travels and multiple political, economic and academic ties, this friendship earned him in 2013 the title of Officer of the Order of Australia, equivalent to the Legion of Honor. When the Canberra authorities decided to develop a plan B submarine contract with Naval Group, Kurt Campbell was one of the first to be contacted. And everything indicates that the man who was the architect in 2011 of Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” strongly encouraged his Australian “friends” to replace the agreement with France with a deeper partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom.
Tribune with the airs of “doctrine”
To define its contours, months of secret negotiations were necessary, led on the American side by a small team led by Kurt Campbell and one of his deputies, Rush Doshi. Responsible for China at the NSC, Doshi published a very noticed book this summer, in which he believes that Beijing aims to replace…
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