Australia’s failure to understand its influence with America is hindering its ability to shape global events, writes Misha Zelinsky. auspol
of his planned visit is case in point. The reaction revealed more about our own insecurities than it did about the US political dysfunction that caused the trip to be canned.To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, perhaps it’s time to ask not what the US can do for us, but what we can do for the US.
Ever since prime minister John Curtin declared in the shadow of Japanese domination in 1941 that “Australia looks to America”, Australians have debated what our principal ally expects in return for its safety guarantee.Sceptics contend that in order to maintain favour with its Big Brother protector, Australia is obliged to follow the US into any military folly, no matter how big or disastrous.
The same goes for that fact that, far from seeking to maintain US primacy for its own sake, it makes good strategic sense to keep the world’s most powerful democracy heavily engaged in our region while we seek to convince Xi Jinping that war in East Asia is best avoided.Australia might not be the “indispensable nation” quite like the US has been since World War II, but it is absolutely central to global security, and can facilitate the creation of a better world.
and an ever-present isolationist streak, encouraging the US to be the best version of itself is more critical than ever. In that, the power of Australia’s lived leadership example will always be its greatest strength.In Washington, nobody asks whether Australia would sign on to a US-led effort to protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion.
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