Release of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI’s) latest publication ‘Power Shift: Challenges for Australia in Northeast Asia’

NORTHEAST Asia’s importance to the world economy and international security is uncontested but it is also a subregion undergoing an historic transition

Griffith University International Relations experts Professor William Tow and Associate Professor Russell Trood have developed an important strategy report titled Power Shift: Challenges for Australian in Northeast Asia which was released today (June 7) by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Griffith Asia Pacific Research Institute (GAPRI).

The report discusses five key emerging factors in Australia’s evolving relations with Northeast Asia. These are:

China’s rising economic strength and growing strategic engagement with the region.

The movement towards “normalisation” in Japan

The shifting power structures and strategic allegiances on the Korean peninsula

The strengthening of the nexus between economic and security issues

A tendency towards diplomatic balancing instead of hegemonic competition, as the USA restructures its strategic presence.

Discussing the report, Professor William Tow said there were emerging trends with the potential to define Australia’s economic relationship with Northeast Asia.

“The remarkable performance of the Chinese economy is not only driving regional economies, but is also shaping the region’s political and security environment,” he said.

“If momentum builds, and there are some signs that it will, the region might move to deepen economic cooperation.

“The risk for Australia is that it may be more exclusively Asian in its membership.”

Associate Professor Trood explained that although Australia has a tradition of engagement with the region, was a valued economic partner in its growing prosperity, and was respected for its capacity and willingness to contribute to regional security, Canberra’s relations with the countries of Southeast Asia received more attention.

“Our current security debate is mainly about how extensively Canberra should complement Washington’s main strategic priority, namely the global war on terrorism in the aftermath of September 11,” Associate Professor Trood said.

“However, disturbingly absent from active consideration is how we could most effectively engage East Asia’s most formidable powers to take advantage of opportunities and help them meet the challenges shaping their future,” he said.

“Australia needs to respond to the changes that are taking place, and interpreting the trends will be an important challenge for us to ensure our own future prosperity.”

Among guests attending today’s launch of the strategy report were Professor Robert Sutter (Georgetown University, Washington DC), ASPI Program Director – Outreach Mr Brendan McRandle, Head of Griffith’s Department of International Business and Asian Studies Associate Professor Leong Liew, Vice Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis, and Professors Colin Mackerras, Nick Knight, Yan Islam and Associate Professor Bill Case.