Geoeconomic contests are posing a major new challenge to Australia’s national interests. Trade warfare, strategic investment races and competitive multilateralism have seen economics become a domain in which great power rivalries are fought. As a medium-sized and very open economy, Australia is especially exposed to both economic and security risks associated with geoeconomics.

This report contends that Australia needs to reappraise its foreign economic policy settings, and adapt them to the challenges of 21st Century geoeconomic contestation. While adaption does not demand an abandonment of liberal economic principles, it does necessitate new strategies that are configured towards managing risks.