Defence and Security
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JAMES O’NEILL. Dangerous delusions in Australian foreign policy.
Our media just does not get it. It is not disputed that there are significant US military bases in Japan (Okinawa), the Philippines, Guam, South Korea, Afghanistan and Australia, among other places. … Strategic planners are unable to point to a single instance of China interfering in the freedom of navigation of civilian shipping. Continue reading »
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A transformational foreign policy
Some of Australia’s most experienced former foreign policy and defence bureaucrats have issued an open submission to the Foreign Minister calling on her to rethink the Australian-US alliance now that president-elect Donald Trump is set to lead the US. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. A declining Australia.
With dropping levels in education and a fading economy Australia is in a decline. What we need is a clear focus on our own area, Asia and the South West Pacific. Continue reading »
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BRIAN TOOHEY. New Series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
There is nothing wrong with pursuing Australia’s commercial interests and avoiding pointless military gestures demanded by the US. Continue reading »
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We can say ‘no’ to the Americans
Other countries with which the US has very close relationships have not always supported or joined in with the United States in ventures which the US government of the day thought of as of the highest importance. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
Without rupturing ANZUS, Australia must reclaim the space to chart an independent foreign policy according to a Canberra-based calculation of national values and interests. Indeed, a visibly independent foreign policy on matters important to Australia could be the most effective strategy for quarantining the alliance from the disruptive Trump effect. Continue reading »
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KELLIE TRANTER. FOI documents expose Australia’s unlawful invasion of Syria.
‘Make no mistake: we unlawfully invaded a sovereign state.’~ Kellie Tranter Not one journalist in the country – although I am happy to stand corrected – asked either the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Attorney General or the Defence Minister to explain how the Government of Syria was ‘unwilling or unable’ to prevent attacks. Continue reading »
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JOSEPH CAMILLERI. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
Australia at the crossroads of time and imagination Can Australia rise to the challenge of a rapidly transforming world or is it bound to the myths of a bygone age? Continue reading »
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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 »
