The Australian Foreign Policy Debate: A reassessment - Professor James Curran
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- How do we account for the current state of the debate over Australian foreign and defence policy and what are the key challenges that lie ahead in looking to the mid 2030s? In his address, Professor James Curran will consider what he sees as some of the forces shaping the strategic discussion at this moment: its intellectual incoherence, the fear amongst the political class of offending tribal electorates, legitimate concerns over China's assertiveness, anxieties about offending the US ally and taking cover behind Washington's own incoherent policy, and at times the near absolute general uninterest in actual events.
He will ask whether these factors are becoming more formative of public policy than anything else, and whether they reflect an Australian apathy that is also fuelled by residual worries about American commitment to Asia. His address will anchor its foundations in longstanding debates over independence and identity, democracy and dependence, as well as the much under-studied role of culture in the making of foreign relations.
James Curran is the Financial Review’s International Editor and professor of modern history at Sydney University. He serves on the DFAT Historical Documents Advisory Committee. James has written for major US foreign policy journals and drafted policy briefs and reports for prominent think tanks. His latest book, Australia’s China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear is a study of the history of the relationship from 1949 to the present and was endorsed by former senior Australian diplomats such as John McCarthy, Peter Varghese and Dennis Richardson. James was a delegate to the UK-Australia Leadership Dialogue at Lancaster House in 2018 and in the same year was an invited delegate to the Shrangi-La Dialogue in Singapore. Prior to joining Sydney University, he served in various roles in the Australian Public Service. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as a Policy Adviser in the Department of The Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving in its International Division. This included a short secondment to the US Alliance policy division in the Department of Defence. From 2005 to 2007, he was a senior intelligence analyst at the Office of National Assessments, where he specialised in US foreign policy, US domestic politics and Latin America. In 2013, James was the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin and in 2010 a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His books include Fighting with America: Why Saying No to the US wouldn’t rupture the Alliance (2016) Unholy Fury: Nixon and Whitlam at War (2015) and Curtin’s Empire 2011. Curran’s first book, The Power of Speech: Australian Prime Ministers Define the National Image (2004) was shortlisted for both the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and the NSW Premier’s History Prize, while The Unknown Nation-Australia After Empire (2010) co-authored with Stuart Ward, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Australian History Prize in 2011. In addition to his newspaper column, Curran has also written for The National Interest, Australian Foreign Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations ‘Asia Unbound’ blog, the East Asia Forum and the Straits Times. He is regularly sought for comment on foreign affairs by the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post and The New York Times.
Well focused. Australian culture does, indeed, expect more transparency than the American Gov't has ever been capable of. Let us hope both the Albanese govt and the Australian Media take your questions and run with them. Thank you. (American born boomer living in Australia since 1983)
We need more of this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Hey Europe . I completely , wholeheartedly agree with his erudite and straight answer.
Asian powers even those you might deem friendly are unlikely to tolerate the presence of any alien navies in the region known as Indo - Pacific other than those of the United States and France . Australia is of course a part of the region and generally treated as one by every imaginable power in Asia but European navies would do well to stay away .
It's not merely China but even countries at odds with China that find the concept of an Asian NATO ridiculous and the prospect of the original NATO trying to make inroads in Asia abhorrent .
Of course, excepting Japan and South Korea .
The United States and France have great relations with all the more powerful States in the region besides having territories that make them resident powers especially France.
Keating- 51states
I listen to the talk patiently. I do not know this person. But I am inclined to believe that his analysis is deficient. that is because his understanding of some of the current world circumstances is deficient.
I do not know much about us Australia relations or Australia's relations with other countries.
But I understand a little bit about India India. His understanding of what is happening in India is lacking in depth and perspective. So his analysis cannot be very good.
The West has been predicting the disintegration of India since India became independent from the British. But India has only gone from strength to strength its economy, in its society and in its democracy despite the popular narrative to the contrary. Somehow a strong nationalist leader like Modi who was to become a dictator, lost absolute majority in the most recent elections. How unexpected. Even more unexpected he accepted his lower majority in the parliament without creating a January 6.
India is standing up to China not because it is trying to please America but because that is in its strategic interest. In the same way India is buying Russian oil because it is in India's economic interest. Did Australia or America stock trading with China when China on multiple occasions attacked India? They did not. Then why should they expect India to stop trading with Russia because they are at war with Russia? That is such a difficult concept for the Australians to get their heads around.
In addition as a consequence of isolating India by the West during the Cold War, India became dependent on Russian weapons. India is in a state of semi war with China. It continues to need those weapons and supplies. Just because Australia or America wish it to stop buying them it cannot do that. None of this made an appearance in this person's understanding of India's situation. I am not sure how confident I can be in the rest of his analysis
He's like that in everything.
Why does anyone listen to Curran? He is insanely clueless on Taiwan and the PRC.
skimmed a few big ones. touched West Papua like a hot potato.
Australia will pay tens of billions to build American bases while never getting its submarines. Morrison is a genius.
China is the next Japan but on a much more Grand scale.
Japan's population peaked in 2008. At that time its economy was 5.1 trillion dollars. By 2023 its economy was 20% smaller.
China is aging much more rapidly and its population is growing smaller then Japan's. Give it 20 more years and China will not be a threat to anyone
I meant growing smaller than Japan's at a faster rate
Sorry for the Glitchy speech to text
@@JohnZoot No need to worry about China. It’s been there for 4000 years.
@@davidlai399
Thanks for that great insight.
The worry is not for China but its smaller neighbors who are trying to avoid becoming another Tibet or xinjiang
@@JohnZoot Who’s worried?? Vietnam? Cambodia? Thailand? Myanmar? Afghanistan? Kazakhstan? Tibet and Xinjiang were first incorporated when Mongolians ruled China a thousand years ago. The CCP has no interest in expanding its territory beyond what it inherited from the last imperial dynasty. Any “water cannon” maritime scuffles it has had are strictly with USA’s puppets in the Pacific.
Prof. Curran is another disappointing speaker overwhelmed by misleading popular geopolitic rhetoric combined with a equally poor understanding of Australia's (and global) circumstance. Gawd he's naive, totally owned by popular political rhetoric. Just because a bunch of people parrot each other, doesn't mean their analysis is valid.
James Curran, is not stupid he knows exactly what he is doing. While he may not be stupid, he is wilfully definitely misleading an ill-informed public. He is, his masters' voice. He is what Malcolm X referred to, as one of those house "N" The ones, that does his master's bidding. Curran job is to control and influence the Field "N" (in this case the ill-informed).
And for being a good boy he gets invited to all the right conferences, think-tanks and meeting.
I am old enough to remember all the experts, from Vietnam, to Gulf Wars, One and Two, to Afghanistan. He is selling the same Bull-$h1t packaged the a similar manner to a gullible public.
He is a not to be taken seriously. He is a Tool of the establishment and he plays that role so well.
please share I am learning
still only paying respect to a small group of people?
NATO Expansion: Make colonial powers great again.
The party is over ,go home & nurse your headache , usa is almost finished ,nato is one last desperate attempt to get others to die 4 americas elites.
what, is Australia going to restart a favourite pastime last century and before; plugging Abos.
What, is Australia going restart a favourite pastime of plugging Abos?