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The National Interest
Australian for Alliance
by Paul Kelly
. . . While America is Australia's most vital state-to-state relationship, its most important region is East Asia-the focus of its trade (56 percent of exports), neighborhood cooperation and security concerns. For several decades the central task of Australian policy has been to integrate its Asian ties with its U.S. alliance, a challenge assisted by the fact that these objectives have been mutually reinforcing most of the time. . . .
It is far from obvious that the war against terrorism unites American and Australian interests to the same extent as have previous wars. The fear among America's allies, that the United States will deliberately privilege pre-emptive military and unilateral means, varies from ally to ally and is often exaggerated. Nonetheless, it is true that American perceptions of the threat it faces are different from those of its allies. To the extent that America tends toward military pre-emption and unilateralism over multilateralism, it creates new problems for old allies. . . .
It is vital for Australia and desirable for the United States that the alliance between the two countries is seen to have a positive impact on Australia's new Southeast Asian problem. Any sense that the alliance hurts Australian efforts to combat new threats would be highly damaging to it. But it will not be easy for Australia to intensify its counter-terrorism agenda in the region while maintaining open and full military support for the global U.S.-led war on terror. Australia cannot afford the impression to develop in Southeast Asia that it is merely the regional agent for the United States. The Howard Government's worst mistake has been to give currency to this notion. It is not only a liability for Australia in Asia but unacceptable on the homefront. However, such a perception already exists in Southeast Asia, where Australia's influence has been diminished.
Clearly, Australia must operate more as an independent player within the alliance. A new and complex phase of Australia's effort to integrate its U.S. alliance into its regional needs is thus beginning. . . .