Defence and Security
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ANDREW FARRAN. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
We should have a very clear and unromantic view of what we conceive to be the ‘national interest’. Continue reading »
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GARRY WOODARD. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
We have said No to the Americans: Robert Menzies Saying No to America was not an upfront characteristic of Menzies’ foreign policy, based as it was on supporting and attracting the support of ‘great and powerful friends’. Supplementing that was his politically profitable propaganda about threats from Asia. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
The present situation offers the Turnbull Government – or its successor -an opportunity to move beyond policies towards Asia based on fear of China and on compliance with United States wishes. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. New series: We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
Australian Foreign Policy; We can say “No” to the US. We must end the interpretation of the ANZUS Alliance which leads us to accompany the US in whatever interventions it mounts in international affairs, and we must stop misleading the Australian people on the nature of the Alliance. Continue reading »
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CAVAN HOGUE. New series: We can say ‘no’ to the Americans?
Of all American allies Australia is the most subservient. A problem is that we have harped on the loyal little ally theme to the Americans so much that they take us for granted but we have not always toed the line. Admittedly, Gough Whitlams’ relative independence caused ructions in Washington but there were special circumstances. Continue reading »
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MARK BEESON. New series: We can say ‘no’ to the Americans?
Getting to ‘no’ Ideas have their moments. The way we think about the world is partly a reflection of who ‘we’ are and partly a consequence of the times we live in. One of the biggest ideas that has informed Australian foreign policy since it became formally independent is that we live in an especially Continue reading »
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We need a transformational foreign policy.
The following submission to the Hon. Julie Bishop for the White Paper on Foreign Affairs and Trade has also been sent to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Senator Wong, as well as selected MPs and Senators. Continue reading »
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TRAVERS McLEOD. General Mattis, the new US Defence Secretary – the right choice for an ahistorical President
With General Petraeus, General Mattis changed the mindset of the US military. Let’s hope that if duty and ethics call, Mattis can change the President’s mind too. Continue reading »
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Dealing with China
China will look to play a greater role in existing institutions and to craft new institutions and arrangements which place it at the centre in a pattern perhaps reminiscent of the Middle Kingdom … We must continue to pursue policies designed to avoid invidious choices [between China and the US]. Continue reading »
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PAUL BARRATT. Managing ANZUS in the age of Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Australia should do a ‘really deep stocktake of what is in our vital national interests and what we are prepared to sign up to’ . Continue reading »
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The Global Strategic Landscape – present realities, and prospects under Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Australia should call on all the nuclear weapon states – in particular, the two major arsenal-holders US and Russia – to return to the prudent protocols and courtesies of classical great power diplomacy, within the protocols and disciplines of the UN Security Council system of global collective Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Trump – Seize the moment. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. We have a unique moment to do something Australia has never done – make a rational distinction between our national interests and our enduring regard for the US. Continue reading »
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CAVAN HOGUE. Has the alliance got us into more trouble than it has got us out of? Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Trump does give us an opportunity to do things we should have done long ago. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. ANZUS – Reality check coming soon! Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. We need diplomacy of the highest order, not military interventions which, as we have seen, generally make conflict situations worse. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. ANZUS in the time of Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Trump has the potential to mark an inflection point in the evolution of Australia as a self-confident and independent Indo-Pacific actor. Continue reading »
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GARRY WOODARD. Trump and ANZUS. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Will Australia allow itself to be drawn into Sino-American tensions in the incorrect belief that it has no choice under ANZUS or ‘five eyes’. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. The Trump Presidency and Australia. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS Summary. Our relationship with the US is of course very important and substantial. This does not mean that we should be seen as not responding quickly to the greatly changed world of 2016. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. Donald Trump and the ANZUS Alliance – Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Dennis Richardson, the Secretary of the Defence Department, recently informed us that the ANZUS Alliance was ongoing, irrespective of who was President of the United States. Of course, this is true, but so what? What was the point of Richardson’s admonition, and what was he hoping to Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 3.
Summary. Is war in the American DNA? In his book ‘Dangerous allies’, Malcolm Fraser warned us how we can be drawn into US conflicts that are of no immediate concern to us. He warned of ‘dangerous strategic dependence’ on the US. The US has a long history of involvement in wars. In Washingtonblog.com in Continue reading »
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Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 2.
Summary. Malcolm Fraser warned us that we no longer have an independent capacity to stay out of America’s wars. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance.
Next week I will run a series of short articles entitled ‘Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance’. In anticipation of that series, I will be posting three articles this week. Part 1, posted today, is by Michael McKinley concerning our reliance on the US relationship. He argues that whilst US military power Continue reading »
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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. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Our white man’s media.
In this blog, I will be posting occasional pieces under the title ‘our white man’s media’ about the inadequate coverage of important issues in world affairs and in particular, in our region. So much of our media coverage reflects the interests and views of the US. Is the Wretched situation in Yemen of no interest Continue reading »
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MARK BEESON. Trump’s America: the irresponsible stakeholder?
Will China fill the void that will be created by Trump? How times change. A decade or so ago, former World Bank president and deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick suggested to China that it needed to become a “responsible stakeholder”. Even at the time this advice looked slightly condescending and patronising. Now it looks Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Trump, Turnbull and ANZUS.
So with a single bound across the Pacific, Trumpery has come to Australia – or at least to our elected leaders, which is the troubling bit. Last week Malcolm Turnbull was inveighing against the elites – yes, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, the multimillionaire lord of Wentworth, Mr Harbourside Mansion himself. His complaint that the “elitist” ABC Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Trump : Getting our priorities right
Is China going to fill the void? The media-hyped flurry to try to establish the likely policy guidelines of the Trump administration is timely and natural but should be approached very cautiously. Not only is it virtually impossible at this moment to reach many definitive conclusions it is no less easy to identify the Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Attack on Mosul : Australian Involvement?
There does not appear to be a plan for the political disposition of Mosul, if and when the Iraqi/US led coalition frees it from ISIS. The political, economic, and confessional interests at stake have attracted all regional powers. Australia’s reasons for taking part, as the 4th largest contributor to the coalition, need clarification. Almost Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Under Trump – A moment of truth may be approaching
Indications are that a Trump Administration will expect America’s allies to pay their way to a greater extent than former President Nixon’s expectations were pursuant to the Guam Doctrine of 1969 mid-point in the Vietnam War. By and large it could be argued that Australia has paid its way – through Vietnam, Afghanistan and Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Trump, Australia and the South China Sea.
The Trump victory has led to justified concern in Australia, as elsewhere, and few would carp at what seems to have been a successful and cordial talk between him and our Prime Minister. It’s a good thing that Trump thought enough of the relationship to include Australia among the countries to receive an early Continue reading »
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Why Trump should work with China on a massive infrastructure partnership
This is an extract from an interview on CNN on the 10th November 2016 with Kishore Muhbubani, Dean of the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Trump will have to make some painful choices, especially in regard to policy in Asia. His instinct will be to take a Continue reading »
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