ANZUS Security Treaty

A mutual security treaty established among Australia, New Zealand, and the United States (ANZUS) in San Francisco on September 1, 1951. The agreement, which entered into force on April 29, 1952, binds the three signatories to recognize that an attack on any member would endanger the peace and safety of all members of the ANZUS alliance.

In the case of an attack, the members of the ANZUS alliance are committed to consult when threats arise against them, to meet the danger by respective constitutional processes, and to maintain and develop sufficient defense capability on an individual and collective level.

There is no integrated defense structure within ANZUS. However, following the suspension of U.S. treaty obligations to New Zealand in 1986, Australia and the United States have continued to conduct joint military exercises. The two nations also maintain joint [Page 30]defense facilities in Australia and seek to standardize equipment and operational doctrine wherever possible.

History of Anzus

To understand the background of the ANZUS Security Treaty, one must understand something about the Cold War and its manifestation in Asia. At the beginning of the Korean War in June 1950, Australia and New Zealand contributed troops to Commonwealth forces out of concern for regional security. At that time, both nations saw the potential diplomatic and security benefits of an alliance with the United States, and this perception influenced the decision to send troops to defend South Korea.

For the United States, an alliance with Australia and New Zealand would provide a secure foothold in the Pacific in its efforts to contain any further communist aggression in Southeast Asia. These mutual diplomatic and security needs led to the signing of the ANZUS Security Treaty in 1951. Although the treaty did not explicitly guarantee military support in the event of attack on a member, it did stipulate consultation if an attack on one of the three countries occurs.

The first 50 years of the ANZUS Security Treaty passed without invoking the provisions for assistance if a member state should come under attack. Nevertheless, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States fought alongside one another in three large-scale conflicts during that period. Besides the Korean War, in which Australia and New Zealand contributed troops, air, sea, and land units from both of these countries served with distinction during the Vietnam War and during the Gulf War.

The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, prompted the first use of the ANZUS Security Treaty provisions for assistance in response to an attack on a member state. Australia came to the aid of its longtime ally by dispatching more than 1,000 troops, as well as sea and air units, to Afghanistan in October 2001 to support the U.S. attempt to overthrow the Taliban and root out Islamic terrorists harbored by them. In fact, Australia was one of the first nations to send troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and members of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.

However, the dispatch of Australian Special Air Services troops and naval units during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 sparked large-scale protests in Australia. As a result, domestic protest may make future deployments in support of American-led military operations prohibitively expensive for Australian politicians.

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