The AUKUS Pandora's Box | Inside America with Ghida Fakhry - a podcast by TRT World

Diplomatic relations between the US and France hit an all-time low earlier this month following the announcement of a strategic defense agreement known as AUKUS —between Australia, the UK and US—that provides for the sale of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
The agreement, which led Australia to scrap a $66 billion dollar deal with France for the delivery of diesel-electric attack submarines initiated in 2016, provoked a rift between the transatlantic allies.France, which took the unprecedented step of recalling its ambassador from Washington for consultations, accused the US of engaging in “lies”, “duplicity” and backstabbing.

AUKUS, largely seen as a strategic alliance to contain China’s growing air and sea power, drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which characterized the agreement as a step towards a new cold war and criticized Washington’s decision to export its weapons grade naval nuclear technology to a non-nuclear weapon state as a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).The transfer of Highly Enriched Uranium —at over 90% enrichment levels— foreseen in the AUKUS agreement, would be a first and raises serious concerns from a non-proliferation standpoint, not only in Beijing. So, is AUKUS opening a Pandora’s box?
Guests:Tariq Rauf
Former Head of Verification and Security Policy Coordination at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Sean O’Keefe
Former US Secretary of the Navy under President George H W Bush.

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