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Strategic Interests in Australian Defence Policy:
Some Historical and Methodological Reflections
Author: Hugh White
Volume 4, Number 2 (Winter 2008), pp. 63-79.
Abstract
The first, and often the hardest, step in any defence policy is to define strategic objectives—what we want our armed forces to be able to do. This is especially hard for a country like Australia, because most of the circumstances in which we would rely on the Australian Defence Force most heavily are only credible if the international order in Asia were to have changed significantly. How can we decide what we would want our armed forces to do in a region very different from the one we know today? This problem has become more acute since the early 1990s, because the end of the Cold War and the rise of China have increased the probability of major systemic change in Asia. This essay explores an approach to identifying long-term strategic objectives in these circumstances. The approach it is based on a specific conception of strategic interests, defined as those factors in the international order that significantly affect the likelihood or seriousness of armed attack on Australia. This essay also describes how this approach was developed in the 1990s and applied in the 2000 White Paper, and considers its applicability in future defence policy.
About the Author
Hugh White is Professor of Strategic Studies and head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. He writes regularly on security and international issues for The Australian. His principle research interests are Australian strategic and defence policy, and the regional and global security issues that most directly affect Australia. He has worked on Australian strategic, defence and foreign-policy issues for 25 years in a number of capacities inside and outside government. His previous positions have included: Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) 2000-2004, Deputy Secretary for Strategy in the Department of Defence 1995-2000, Head of the Strategic Analysis Branch, ONA 1992-1993, Senior Adviser on International Affairs to Prime Minister Bob Hawke 1990-1991, Senior Adviser to the Defence Minister Kim Beazley 1984-1990, and foreign affairs and defence correspondent on the Sydney Morning Herald 1983-1984. In the 1970s he studied philosophy at Melbourne and Oxford Universities, and was awarded Oxford’s John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy in 1978. hugh.white@anu.edu.au.
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