Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Devastating disruption in global shipping has forced people to think about how all that stuff makes its way to stores.

We look at wild swings in container shipping prices, what that means at the retail end and whether things will ever get back to normal.

And after their time in office, some politicians go gently into good nights of after-dinner speeches or take up new business pursuits.

Increasingly, though, they're building little media empires, spreading their messages through films and television.

First up, though, a new security partnership announced this week is going to have big consequences. Alcus, an alliance between America, Britain and Australia, is squarely aimed at one region. Because the future of each of our nations, and indeed the world, depends on a free and open into Pacific.

The deal will cover diplomatic and security cooperation, but most significant is the defense end of the pact,

including Australia obtaining its first nuclear-powered submarines.

It is a momentous decision for any nation to acquire this formidable capability.

But Australia is one of our oldest friends, a kindred nation.

For Australia, the agreement goes far beyond existing groupings with America,

such as the Five Eyes Security Block,

or the new quad tie up with India and Japan.

We must now take our partnership to a new level.

A partnership that seeks to engage, not to exclude, to contribute, not take, and to enable

and empower not to control or coerce.

Ocas is another sign of America's shift, away from European concerns and toward the Pacific,

and of a growing international alignment against that region's biggest worry.

When the leaders announced this new pact, none of them mentioned China, but everyone knows this is all about China.

The alliance reflects a shared fear from all three countries about the consequences of China's rising power in Asia.

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