Understanding Australia’s
Defence Dilemmas
Author: Robert Ayson
Volume 2, Number 2 (July 2006), pp. 25-42.
Abstract
Australia needs a clear strategy to match its policy aims with its defence capabilities. Standing in the way are four defence dilemmas. First, Australian defence funding is too generous and too limited. Second, ontological defence questions which should be asked by Australian planners don’t have to be. Third, Australia’s extra-regional deployments may be providing only short-term and illusory comfort against concerns that Canberra’s important relationships with the US and China might prove incompatible. Fourth, the war on terror has been a tempting but hollow defence rationale. These dilemmas will be hard to escape. Thinking about Australia’s vital interests could help.
About the Author
Robert Ayson is Senior Fellow in the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre where he directs the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence program. He completed his PhD at King’s College London and has held official and academic positions in New Zealand. He can be contacted at robert.ayson@anu.edu.au.
|
