Australian Strategic Policy in a Changing Asia.

This paper provides an assessment of Australia’s strategic policy and particularly examines how Australia’s alliance relationship with the US is changing Australian strategic commitments and its broader regional role. The paper is in three parts. The first provides an overview of the broader trends in Australia’s strategic policy and a more detailed assessment of the current state of Australia’s bilateral relationship with the US. The second part examines the changing regional and global role that Australia is taking as a function of its alliance, with a focus on the recent Japan-Australia Security Declaration. The final section considers the risks and opportunities that this new policy direction has for Australian security interests and particularly assesses Australia’s ambitions to balance its economic and political relationship with China and its security and strategic links with Japan and the US. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]