Abstract
This paper was written for the Tokyo Foundations Asian Security Project as a first step of collaboration between the Foundation and the Australian National University. The project uses a three-tiered approach to analyze emerging security arrangements in the Asia-Pacific during the postCold-War era. Here, ANU Professors William T. Tow and Rikki Kersten discuss the evolution of Australian approaches to regional security politics, focusing on the period since 2008, when Kevin Rudd introduced the concept of an Asia-Pacific community. This concept was not well received by other countries in the region, but the vision has survived. In 2010, for instance, the East Asia Summit decided to include the United States and Russia as members beginning in 2011. The Australian position in the regional security architecture has recently been shifting away from multilateral arrangements, such as EAS, though, and moving toward minilateral arrangements like the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue with the United States and Japan. As long as China pursues a peaceful rise, security arrangements that China may regard as intending to contain it should be avoided. But if China opts to assert its interests through a powerful military buildup, those minilateral instruments could become more NATO-like in purpose and configuration. (Shoichi Katayama, Research Fellow and Project Manager)
Original language | English |
---|---|
Place of Publication | Canberra, Australia. |
Publisher | The Tokyo Foundation |
Pages | 1-5pp |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |