Writer
Mack Williams
Mack Williams is former ambassador to the Republic of Korea.
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The challenge for 2023: Taiwan and North Korea
It is self evident that the US: China relationship – with Taiwan at its core – will be the most pressing strategic issue for Australia in 2023. Continue reading »
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The Defence Strategic Review and the challenge of synchronising with foreign policy.
A reshaped foreign policy for Australia and the Defence Strategic Review are inextricably linked. Continue reading »
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The Defence Strategic Review: Rehash of US influenced orthodoxy?
Prime Minister Albanese is to be commended for announcing, so quickly after his election, the Defence Strategic Review but its real objective is too narrow, its timeline too short and its membership hardly “independent” as claimed. Continue reading »
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Albanese – In at the deep end in Tokyo
On his very first day in office, Prime Minister Albanese has seized with alacrity the opportunity to travel to Tokyo for the Quad meeting to announce his presence on the international stage. Continue reading »
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The Philippines – another Marcos presidency
After a long and tortuous journey, even for the Philippines, the elections outcome is in little doubt. Bong Bong Marcos (BBM as he is known) is so far ahead in the opinion polls you can “put down the glasses” and his running mate – Sara Duterte (Mayor of Davao and the incumbent President’s daughter) – Continue reading »
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Ukraine highlights our defence procurement shambles
With the Russian invasion in full swing and the collateral havoc of civilian casualties and mass evacuations before our eyes on TV it is premature to try to draw many firm conclusions about the longer term global implications of the Ukraine situation – let alone for Australia. But there are immediate lessons which should not Continue reading »
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Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy and China
After a year in preparation, President Biden has eventually issued his Indo Pacific Strategy (IPS) which seeks to present a comprehensive US approach to the region linked back to his pre-election vision of a foreign policy for “middle America”. Continue reading »
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Biden’s honeymoon is over, and 2022 looks daunting
The US president’s first year has disappointed progressive supporters and generated little in the way of positive developments on the world stage. Continue reading »
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Chinese overflights signal to US rather than threat to Taiwan
Despite the fuss made over China’s recent military exercise over Taiwan, it’s becoming clear that China’s message was actually directed at the United States in response to its recent military drills in the region. Continue reading »
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Did China violate Taiwan’s airspace? It’s not that simple
The rush to panicked headlines by the American and Australian media about Chinese military manoeuvres over the Taiwan Strait revealed the shallowness of their understanding of the basic issues involved. Continue reading »
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Between AUKUS and AUSMIN, Australia has crossed the rubicon
Through the combination of AUKUS and AUSMIN, Australia has locked in its strategic dependence on the US — probably irreversibly, or in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s words “forever”. Continue reading »
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AUKUS and submarines: Just what are we doing?
There has been so much commentary on the new AUKUS arrangements, especially the cancellation of the long-running submarine contract with the French. It’s timely to strip back all the hype and examine more closely what it all means. Continue reading »
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Australia should learn from Korea on managing a relationship with China
China was the elephant in the room for the discussions Marise Payne and Peter Dutton had with their Korean counterparts in Seoul. Korea’s extremely complex bilateral relationship with China is so different from our own. Continue reading »
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Five Eyes on the Afghan collapse-one eyed or blind?
The catastrophic failure of US and coalition intelligence in Afghanistan offers serious food for thought about the extent to which Australia relies on the vaunted Five Eyes arrangements. Continue reading »
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“Rules-based international order” camouflage for US exceptionalism
Bipartisan exceptionalism still predominates under Biden with “rules-based international order” at the core of his foreign policy prevailing over “adherence to international law”. China is stepping up its counter to US and Australian attempts to organise a new regional coalition of deterrence. Continue reading »
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Biden: Moon Summit- Little new on DPRK but significant bilateral issues.
Last week’s meeting in Washington between Presidents Biden and Moon was the second summit hosted by Biden since his inauguration, following that with Japanese Prime Minister Suga. While not very much new on the North Korean front emerged the atmosphere surrounding it was remarkably more congenial and workmanlike than Moon’s previous meetings with former President Continue reading »
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Biden’s speech to Congress – read his lips!
President Biden’s first address to Congress has provided a substantive and timely window into his ambitions for his term of office, but also the ideology which is driving him. Its central theme was “ We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st Century”. Continue reading »
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Anchorage: Emerging Biden Policy on China
In his first few months, President Biden has had to focus on settling in his new administration and beginning to tackle the extremely challenging domestic issues he has inherited – especially Covid 19. His new team has begun to flesh out the general themes of foreign and defence policy set out in his election campaign. Continue reading »
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President Biden must call time on the “exceptionalism” US has long exploited
Last year I described an essay by then candidate Joe Biden “Why America must lead again” as “less an inspirational treatise … more a collage of ideas”. With so many daunting domestic challenges to confront, it will take time for Biden to put his personal stamp on key foreign policy themes. Continue reading »
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US Indo-Pacific Defence Initiative: What’s really going on ?
The ritual analysis of the departing President’s report card does not record many positives for Trump’s strategic policy management in areas most vital to Australia. The key regional issues have been passed on to President-elect Biden whose immediate challenge will be to craft some coherent whole of government policy from the abundance of ideas currently Continue reading »
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Korea : Biden a mixed blessing?
Seoul and Pyongyang are trying to fathom the implications of the Biden presidency for the Korean peninsula, while concerns remain about the damage Trump may yet do during his remaining time in office. Continue reading »
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Trump pressures South Korea over China
When most around the world had battened down the hatches for a rough ride through the last days of the US Presidential election campaign, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has become seriously preoccupied again with the Trump administration. Continue reading »
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Biden’s Foreign Policy: Make America the leader again
In an essay in the prestigious US publication “Foreign Affairs”, the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, sets out a broad set of his foreign policy objectives should he win the US presidency in November. The title – “Why America Must Lead Again – Rescuing US Foreign Policy after Trump” – is hauntingly close to that used Continue reading »
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Payne and Reynold’s collision course with China
Ministers Payne and Reynolds have presented their brief for the AUSMIN20 discussions in Washington for which the scene has been set by a series of aggressive anti-China speeches by Secretary of State Pompeo and other senior US ministers. Continue reading »
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Range of options for Kim Jong-un in the lead up to US elections
As the weeks tick over towards the US elections in November and doubts grow about President Trump’s prospects, the main stakeholders in the North Korean denuclearisation problem are having to reassess their options. All of which is making for a particularly complex poker game in which the stakes remain extremely high. Continue reading »
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South Korea and the G7 – some tricky issues
Recent months have seen little sign of any development in the US: DPRK relations but a lot has been happening in the peninsular – through piecing the jigsaw together continues to be challenging. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Morrison Covid19 “proposal”
Assuming that the WHA will pass its “Covid Response A73/CONF./1” Resolution now that President Xi has declared his support in his surprise personal address, which will have influenced widespread endorsement from developing countries, Australia needs to take a very serious look at its own performance on this sensitive issue. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Covid-19, China and the WHO: Quo Vadis Australia?
A long time American UN observer in the US publication Foreign Policy ( “ WHO Becomes Battleground as Trump Chooses Pandemic Confrontation over Cooperation” 29 April 2020) has claimed that “fighting the coronavirus has become secondary as the US seeks to hamstring the WHO, turning it into a 2020 election issue along with Chinese trade”. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. International implications of landslide Korean elections
The spectacular success of President Moon’s party in the recent parliamentary elections has some important international implications as well as those for the South Korean domestic political scene. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. North Korea. Has Trump lost the plot?
The stalemate between the US and the DPRK has dragged on past the Kim Jong-un’s end of 2019 deadline. Continue reading »
