Michael McKinley

Michael McKinley is a member of the Emeritus Faculty, the Australian National University; he taught Strategy, Diplomacy and International Conflict at the University of Western Australia and the ANU.

Michael's recent articles

MICHAEL McKINLEY. Trump, Australia, Iran, and a Question For Australia

For all of the radical change promised by Donald Trump when he was campaigning, at least one area of continuity is abundantly clear: the preoccupation with, and a distorted understanding of Islam in general and Iran in particular. His appointment of those he refers to as my generals to National Security Adviser (Mike Flynn), and Defense (James Mattis) as my generals are one of the strongest indicators of this and the militarisation of his counsel. So, too, is his appointment of Steve Bannon to the position of Chief Strategist. All share apocalyptic visions of the war in which the United...

MICHAEL McKINLEY. Quo vadis - the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 1:

Summary.Donald Trump, Dylan Thomas, and the Australia US Alliance -A great power in decline.

MICHAEL McKINLEY. The unmooring of our national defence from our national interest. Part 4 of 4.

Australia is currently courting offence rather than, as governments so often assert, defence - a transformation which might only charitably be attributed to absent mindedness if the alternative, stealth, is excluded. It is, moreover, a change wrought, in the first instance, as a consequence of the ways in which Australia thinks about its national defence, but also of both the logic and the inherent dangers arising from and within the Australia US alliance. While an extraordinary number of avenues of inquiry are possible, there are four which are pursued, the drift to offence itself, followed by, second, the emergence...

MICHAEL McKINLEY. The unmooring of our national defence from our national interest. Part 3 of 4.

Australia is currently courting offence rather than, as governments so often assert, defence - a transformation which might only charitably be attributed to absent mindedness if the alternative, stealth, is excluded. It is, moreover, a change wrought, in the first instance, as a consequence of the ways in which Australia thinks about its national defence, but also of both the logic and the inherent dangers arising from and within the Australia US alliance. While an extraordinary number of avenues of inquiry are possible, there are four which are pursued, the drift to offence itself, followed by, second, the emergence...

MICHAEL McKINLEY. The unmooring of our national defence from our national interest. Part 2 of 4.

Australia is currently courting offence rather than, as governments so often assert, defence - a transformation which might only charitably be attributed to absent mindedness if the alternative, stealth, is excluded. It is, moreover, a change wrought, in the first instance, as a consequence of the ways in which Australia thinks about its national defence, but also of both the logic and the inherent dangers arising from and within the Australia US alliance. While an extraordinary number of avenues of inquiry are possible, there are four which are pursued, the drift to offence itself, followed by, second, the emergence...

The unmooring of our national defence from our national interest. Part 1 of 4.

Australia is courting offence rather than, as governments so often assert, defence - a transformation which might only charitably be attributed to absent mindedness if the alternative, stealth, is excluded. It is, moreover, a change wrought, in the first instance, as a consequence of the ways in which Australia thinks about its national defence, but also of both the logic and the inherent dangers arising from and within the Australia US alliance. While an extraordinary number of avenues of inquiry are possible, there are four which are pursued, the drift to offence itself, followed by, second, the emergence of...

Michael McKinley. Disorder in the Australian National Security Mind

Strategy is difficulty to practice and even more difficult to master. Its components knowledge leavened by wisdom and imagination cohabit with military science only in the most tense and difficult of relationships. That said, there are three nearly invariable rules that should govern the thinking and acting of a strategic actor nation state or non-state: the first is that the record of the US since its founding ought to be a caution against any involvement in its interventions: In a document compiled by the Congressional Research Service covering the 216 years period 1798 2014, and which...

Michael McKinley. Alliance Ideology, The Myth of Sacrifice and the National Security Culture.

The following is an article by Dr Michael McKinley, which was published in June 2015 in the book 'How does Australia go to War'. See linkwww.iraqwarinquiry.org.au Conventional wisdom holds the following claims to be true. Australia is not an aggressive country and goes to war only for reasons of self-defence. The world is a threatening place and by extension Australia is threatened. Because Australia is essentially indefensible against many types of the posed threats it requires a protector who would significantly enhance, if not guarantee its security. The optimum arrangement for acquiring a protector is an alliance which, for...

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