PM's foreign faces

For a seemingly simple man, John Howard can be strangely elusive. And it is his elusiveness, rather than his seeming simplicity, that is the real source of his strength, and the most characteristic feature of his prime ministership over the past decade. If anything seems clear and simple about Howard's record, it is the course he has steered on the US alliance and regional diplomacy. Both supporters and detractors see in his policy the workings of a simple but grand design. Their image is of a Howard who for 10 years has been determined to move Australia decisively closer to the US and further from Asia and our neighbourhood.