The theme of partnership is a growing one in Australian strategic policy. In some ways, it’s a useful qualifier to the emphases placed in an earlier era on ANZUS and self-reliance. And it’s probably not a coincidence that the notion of partnerships has arisen in tandem with Asia’s rise in global politics. In this post we want to work through the concept to highlight a more structured way of thinking about it.

We have to begin by observing something about the region as a whole. For at least the next twenty years, we’ll find ourselves on the periphery of a region where the strategic centre of gravity will be shifting—closer to us, rather than further away. As a consequence, we’ll sense the greater intrusion of Asian power shifts into our personal space. Those power shifts don’t automatically generate a more disintegrated Asian region. If we ask ourselves what would drive the growth of separate strategic blocs in Asia, the simplest answer is that the growth of Bismarckian nationalism, not mere multipolarity, is the factor most likely to exert such disintegrative pressures. In short, Asian mulipolarity is certain but the direction of nationalistic identities is uncertain—and possibly concerning. Read more

The diplomatic calendar is going to help Tony Abbott work through the current period of diplomatic pain with China. Australia is chairing the G20 and China is the APEC chair as the group celebrates its 25^th birthday. Beijing shouldn’t spend too much time beating up Canberra if it is putting energy into the theme it chose for its APEC year: ‘Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.’

Both the G20 and the APEC chairing jobs will focus on shared economic interests, cooperation and the search for consensus. That will aid an Abbott effort to shift the spotlight from his bilateral bother with Beijing, and perhaps help the Prime Minister to do some reframing of his strategic trifecta—the alliance, interests and values that Australia shares with Japan and the US.

Read more

According to Tony Abbott, Japan is Australia’s ‘best friend in Asia’ and a ‘strong ally’ . These are important elements of what this series calls the strategic trifecta—alliance, interests and values—which the Prime Minister has invoked in placing Australia beside Japan and the US in the East China Sea confrontation with China.

In elevating Japan to ‘strong ally’, Abbott is adding to what John Howard built when he created a strategic partnership with Japan and put the trilateral leg into the US–Japan and the US–Australia alliances.

Read more

Last week Indonesian National Police (POLRI) chief General Sutarman announced that cooperation with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on people smuggling had been suspended in light of the recent spying row between Australia and Indonesia. Today, it’s been reported that information sharing on cyber crime would also be halted, and it’s entirely possible that further police cooperation is in jeopardy.

This cooperation should not be used as a ‘blunderbuss’ style of diplomatic weapon: put simply, Indonesian and Australian people will be indiscriminately harmed by this weapon.

Since the late 1970s in particular, cooperation between POLRI and AFP has helped to combat some of the region’s most pressing law enforcement problems including transnational crime, drug smuggling, people smuggling and human trafficking, and terrorism.

By working side by side on these issues, Indonesians and Australians have cooperated at times when we needed it most. It’s also meant both countries’ police have worked together quickly, efficiently and effectively because of the time both invested in each other. Read more

The ADF has done a lot to harmonise its capability to fulfil military objectives. But government must think beyond the ADF when looking at how we will prepare an amphibious capability that will fulfil national objectives. There’s a gap here: other government agencies and the humanitarian sector need to be brought into ADF planning. That’s because HADR is growing in importance as a national priority in our disaster-exposed region.

The latest super typhoon to hit the Philippines again reminds us of the human toll caused by nature’s fury. Already the US, UK and Canadian militaries are assisting in relief efforts and an Australian medical team transported by a C17 departs today. The scale of these natural disasters is likely to increase due to a combination of population growth, coastal development, higher population densities and climate change.

Read more