Australia's new foreign policy
Australians threw out decisively the almost 12-year old conservative government on November 24, and installed a Labour Party government led by former diplomat Kevin Rudd.
Australia suffers from a dilemma: it is culturally aligned with the West but is a part of the Asia Pacific region. Paul Keating, Labour prime minister in the early '90s, in his book:
Engagement: Australia Faces the Asia Pacific (2000) asserts: "Australia is a legitimate part of this region … this right derives in part from geography. It springs most particularly from the dense network of interests which bind Australia and our neighbours: the 60 per cent of our trade which goes to East Asia."
Past policies under the Howard government
During the early '50s and '60s, conservative Prime Minister Robert Menzies was voicing the fear of resurgent Japan and expansionary China, and cultivated relationship with the US to preserve Australia from the "yellow peril." The Howard government followed Menzies and ignored Australia's network of interests with Asia, and shifted emphasis from the region to the West. The fear of Asia remained the dominant undercurrent in Australia's foreign policy during the Howard years.
On one of his first foreign visits, to Indonesia in 1996, after the winning the election, Howard outlined only the negatives that differentiated Australia from Indonesia. It was a strange and most undiplomatic speech. Observers say that his predecessor, Paul Keating, was close to the Indonesian leadership, and Howard wanted to show that he was different from his predecessor by pointing out only the differences, and not the similar concerns of the region.
Howard almost neglected South Asia. He cancelled his first intended visit to India in the late '90s. Later, he realised that India was an agent of change and was growing economically, like China. But the damage was done. Furthermore, the Speaker of India's Parliament was to visit Australia, but airport formalities, including intention of body searching the speaker, put off the visit.
Although the Howard government had deep commercial interests with China, he supported the alliance of India-Japan-Australia-US to contain the power of China in the Asia Pacific region. Both the former Japanese prime minister and former Australian foreign minister did not directly mention a security alliance, but spoke of the alliance of four democratic countries in strengthening peace and security in the region. But no one can miss the implications of such an alliance at the initiative of the US.
As a result, Australia did not win the hearts and minds of the people of the Asian region, rather Asian countries looked upon Australia as the "Deputy Sheriff" of the US in the region. Howard showed muscle power with smaller Pacific Island States, and was largely instrumental in making East Timor independent from Indonesia.
New policy directions
The new Prime Minister Rudd's government policies will have an impact not only on domestic area but also on foreign relations.
It appears that Rudd understands the importance of its geo-political role in the region. Rudd believes that the strength of Australia lies in the engagement with Asia. In the past, the Labour governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating (1983-96) wanted to put Australia in a different geographical UN group, with the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, Australia belongs to the European and others group.
If Australia maintains cooperative and trustful relations with the Asian states, it can mediate among them in resolving issues that may occur. Furthermore, if Australia understands more about Asian ethos and values, it can provide advice to the West as to how to deal effectively with the region. In that way Australia, a middle-power nation, can influence the events both in Asia and in the West.
The first act Rudd, as the prime minister, did was to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which the Howard government resisted partly because the Bush administration did not become a party to it. Although the ratification is symbolic, others, including Asian states, that Australia does not blindly follow the US policy and it can act on its own, see it.
Australia and China need each other. China needs natural resources from Australia, and Australia receives huge boost in its budget from its exports to China. The suspicion that Australia is part of a China-containment coalition is likely to disappear under Rudd's government. Rudd assured, in fluent mandarin, China's President Hu Jintao during the Apec Summit in Sydney that his government would not play "the US card" against China.
On Iraq, Rudd pledged to withdraw 550 Australian combat troops from Iraq, and reversed the Howard government policy to keep the combat forces as long as was necessary. Last September, at the Apec meeting in Sydney, President Bush met with Kevin Rudd, the then opposition leader.
It is understood that Rudd told the US President that although he was committed to the US-Australia alliance, he would withdraw troops from Iraq. Howard was perceived to have gone too far in following Bush in sending troops to a distant land, Iraq, while New Zealand did not. If there is a Democrat in the White House in 2009, he would be on the same wavelength as Rudd.
Australia's relations with the US will remain strong, but with a difference. Australia will take care of its national interests in not following blindly the US policy in the region and elsewhere. Academics say that instead of always leading the cheering squad for the US, Australia is likely, under Rudd, to cultivate some of the skills of a helpful passenger of a bus driven by the US. These include encouraging careful steering, some timely map reading, a judicious use of brakes and, not least, better road manners. These would serve the interests of both the countries.
Already, the US Assistant Secretary of State, Nicholas Burns, visited Australia in recent days and met with new Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. The prime minister is likely to visit Washington early next year.
Under Prime Minister Rudd, Australia's relations with its biggest neighbour Indonesia are likely to turn a new page. The historical baggage of Howard's apathy and East Timor's independence may not dog Indonesia's relations with Australia. During the Bali Climate Change Conference, Kevin Rudd met the Indonesian president on December 11 and assured him of all cooperation with Indonesia in fulfilling its role in the region.
Kevin Rudd is likely to pursue a much gentler, less muscular, and non-invasive policy towards small Pacific Island states. New Zealand has more clout and influence with the events of the Pacific Island states than Australia under the Howard government did. Already, Rudd has met New Zealand's Labour Party Prime Minister Helen Clark in Brisbane, and spoke of joint cooperation in maintaining stability and peace in the region.
If election pledges are any guide, Rudd will have the opportunity to make the country different from that of Howard's era. Former Labour prime minister Paul Keating once said that "if you change the prime minister, you change the country." This seems to be occuring, hopefully, in Australia under the new prime minister.
Barrister Harun ur Rashid is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
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