Desert Australia is affected by a series of 'desert drivers'. These include low and unpredictable fertility, low and patchy populations, remoteness from markets, distant voice from governance decisions, and further aspects of social variability. This paper focuses on (i) the resulting impacts in terms of two-way connections with non-desert Australia, mainly around understanding why there may be a mismatch between good intentions and poor outcomes, and (ii) the opportunities in terms of connecting with remote regions elsewhere in the world, in terms of creating a global alliance of regions facing similar issues to desert Australia.