September 12, 2014

Is Abbott spreading Australia too thin?

By Ely Ratner

Two months ago, as Prime Minister Abbott's globalist reflexes were becoming increasingly apparent, I offered a perspective from Washington that the US should welcome a more prominent role for Australia on the world stage.

I argued that America's steadfast ally had unique normative, diplomatic and geopolitical strengths that could advance our common interests, particularly if Australia escaped from the confines of outdated models of 'deputy sheriff' and the 'hub-and-spoke' alliance system.

This was already occurring with Australian leadership over the MH370 search, at the UN in the wake of the MH17 tragedy, and in helping to deepen military-to-military cooperation between the US and China with next month's trilateral 'Exercise Kowari' in northern Australia. I said at the time, with few reservations, that, 'greater Australian involvement in world politics — again, even in pursuit of its own aims — will ultimately advance American interests.'

Having just returned from a week in Australia that overlapped with the Abbott Government's one-year anniversary, I have to admit it was less clear than ever exactly what those aims are.

Read the full article at Lowy's The Interpreter

  • Commentary
    • Foreign Policy
    • September 20, 2023
    Domestic Politics Threaten Hard-Won Success in East Asia

    As momentous and historic as the Camp David agreements were, this trilateral grouping is innately and structurally fragile...

    By Dr. Duyeon Kim

  • Commentary
    • The Wall Street Journal
    • September 19, 2023
    Why Aren’t the Presidential Candidates Debating China?

    Underestimating the China risk is a longstanding American strategic error....

    By David Feith & Gabriel Scheinmann

  • Commentary
    • Foreign Policy
    • September 14, 2023
    Why There Are No Game-Changing Weapons for Ukraine

    Germany has become the second-biggest contributor of military aid to Ukraine after the United States, but you wouldn’t know it by following the debate in Berlin. In a replay o...

    By Franz-Stefan Gady

  • Reports
    • September 13, 2023
    Strengthening the Shield

    In December 2022, Japan’s government released three major strategic documents: the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Program. ...

    By Jacob Stokes, Lisa Curtis, Joshua Fitt, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph I. Grimm & Rebecca Wittner

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia