Issues in Australian Foreign Policy January to June 2001

Abstract

The first half of 2001 saw traditional issues dominating the foreign policy agenda, with both Australia’s relationship with the United States and the policy of Asian engagement still holding centre stage. But those old issues generated fresh anxieties. In the United States, the incoming Bush administration displayed a genuine radicalism in its approach to foreign policy, and that raised concerns in many Western capitals — including Canberra — about a new mood of unilateralism in Washington. At the same time, the emergence of the thesis that Australia was becoming a “branch office economy”, where key decisions were taken in the capital markets of New York and London, made the government noticeably more cautious and selective in its endorsement of globalisation. Further, the issue of Asian engagement grew steadily more complex: Australian policy‐makers searched unsuccessfully for a new focus for the policy of Asian engagement, as Japan’s economy wallowed and Indonesia’s democratic government tottered.

Issues in Australian Foreign Policy July to December 2005

“…This pleased many of Howard's critics who, ever since his investiture as Prime Minister in 1996, had questioned his Asian engagement credentials, thus confirming Rod Lyon's observation that the question of "Asian engagement" remains a "prickly" and "sensitive" issue in Australian politics. 78 Such claims notwithstanding, as 2005 drew to a close, the Howard Government could plausibly argue that it had been able to foster strong and close relations with its most important regional partners while remaining a close ally of the United States. This is to be considered no mean feat for a government often criticised for being not only too closely aligned with the United States, but also lukewarm on engagement with Australia's neighbours.…”

Your Asia-Pacific Network: The use of Radio Australia by the Australian Government

“…In an article for the Far Eastern Economic Review journalist Barry Hing writes, 'Australia must work out a position whereby it recognises its cultural differences and maintains its support for traditional allies, such as the U.S., and at the same time fit in comfortably in a region that may not always share such sympathies' (Hing, 2001: 30). Lyon (2001)…”