The Mirror Test

A rules-based nation, a crossed-finger habit, and the comfort of looking away.

A modern parable about slogans, alliances, and the cost of convenience.

Australia was very proud of a phrase.

The phrase was “the rules-based order,” which sounds like something you’d say while smoothing a tablecloth before guests arrive. It sounded tidy. It sounded like grown-ups were in charge. It sounded like the opposite of the kinds of things that make people build bunkers and learn to bake sourdough.

Australia used the phrase the way you might use a good jacket: often, confidently, and especially when you’re going somewhere you’d like to be taken seriously.

There were other phrases too, of course. “Alliance obligations.” “Strategic stability.” “Shared values.” But the favourite was the rules-based order, because it suggested there were rules, and that those rules were based on something sturdier than vibes.

And Australia did love rules.

Australia had road rules. Australia had cricket rules. Australia had rules about what you could call a sausage. Australia had rules about whether your…