Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 09/2011

Living with the dragon: why Australia needs a China strategy

Alan Dupont

May 2011

Lowy Institute for International Policy

Abstract

In a new Policy Brief, Lowy Institute Non-resident Senior Fellow Professor Alan Dupont argues that Australia has failed to grasp the full implications of China’s meteoric rise or the risk of conflict in the Western Pacific. He calls for a coherent, national approach to China, one that is informed by a clear appreciation of the drivers of Chinese strategic policy particularly in the Western Pacific, which is the most likely arena of confrontation between China and the US. Kowtowing or muscling up to China are equally flawed strategies, Dr Dupont writes. Smart power and astute diplomacy are better ways of hedging against the prospect of a new hegemony in Asia.