Student, Expert, Peacekeeper: Three Versions of International Engagement

Three figures - the student, the expert and the peacekeeper - have provided influential frameworks through which Australians have conceptualised their relations with the world since 1945. Each has defined points of intersection between prevailing values in Australian civil society and understandings of international change as offering opportunities and challenges in articulating national interests. This article places each of these figures in their context, and in a sequence which suggests that each served to resolve uncertainties regarding international engagement while also generating new tensions. Tracing these effects illuminates the cultural transitions that have selectively determined how international issues have been comprehended and the roles Australians have perceived for themselves in relation to them.