East Timor after Alkatiri: nation or protectorate?
Tim Anderson writes that a more ‘Australian friendly’ government could be bad news for poor people in East Timor – which means most of the population. If East Timor becomes a ‘neo-liberal protectorate’, Anderson...
Australia’s Ring of Fire
Cavan Hogue writes that Australia needs to remember that the countries we call 'failed states' are in fact artificial, colonial creations. He argues that we should not be surprised if these 'non-states' fail but...
A global role for NATO. Will Australia be recruited?
Gabriel Kolko believes the Iraq debacle has led the US to imagine an expanded membership and role for NATO with nations such as Australia and Japan forming part of this vision.
Time to strengthen ANZUS. It is weaker than we think!
Peter Layton clarifies a little known fact about the ANZUS treaty: unlike NATO, it does not require a signatory to respond militarily if another signatory is threatened; it only requires the US to consult...
Australia-US Alliance Series: Week 4
In the fourth week of this series, Richard Woolcott believes the changing world order and the government’s exploitation of the alliance for domestic purposes will change Australian attitudes to the alliance. Paul Barratt discusses...
Australia-US Alliance Series: Week 3
In the third week of this series, Joe Siracusa argues that because of our location in the world we are only going to be come more not less important to the United States. Bob...
Australia-US Alliance Series: Week 2
In the second week of the Alliance series, Rawdon Dalrymple argues that any government that showed indifference to the alliance would be punished at the ballot box and that Washington now understands the dimension...
Australia and the US — Managing the alliance better?
Mack Williams introduces a Centre for Policy Development series on the Australia-US Alliance. With Australia playing a supporting role to the US in the shambolic Iraqi experiment and tensions rising between the US and...
Australia-US Alliance Series: part 1
Peter Edwards and former Australian Ambassador to Iraq Rory Steele each give their views on the state and future of the Australia-US Alliance. Edwards identifies five arguments that governments have used to justify the...
Trust, but verify
Paul Barratt puts the AWB scandal into its true context. At the very time that the AWB kickbacks were being paid to the Iraqi regime, Australian naval officers were involved in operations to prevent...