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July 27, 2005
Good on ya
In somewhat of a surprising move (to me, at least), Australia has decided to sign ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Co-operation. As such, the Aussies will be invited to the inaugural East Asian Summit in Malaysia this December:
Alexander Downer, the Australian foreign minister, yesterday hailed the country's accession to the peace pact and its invitation to the summit as “an enormous step forward for Australia in terms of our engagement with east Asia”.
The summit could play a “very important part in building an east Asia community”, Mr Downer said. Australia had previously resisted signing the regional treaty, citing the potential conflict with its cold war-era mutual defence pact with the US, which obliges the two countries to come to each others' aid in the event of a threat.
But the prospect of exclusion from a nascent economic block finally prompted Australia's capitulation, though political analysts said John Howard, the Australian prime minister, first received a green light from Washington, which it still considers the primary guarantor of Australia's security.
“He really does believe there should be a good relationship with Asia but it's a question of what price he is willing to pay,” Harold Crouch, a political scientist of Australian National University, said yesterday.
As I've noted before, Australia's John Howard has been courting Asia of late. In many ways, this cuts against the common perception of him as a PM who values Australia's alliance with the United States at the expense of relations with its more proximate neighbors in Asia. But as I've also noted, this perception is not entirely accurate. There is a great deal of evidence to support the assertion that Howard really doesn't view relations with the United States and Asia as a zero-sum game. This, as it happens, is the correct perspective.
Still, the big news with Australia's decision to sign the amity treaty is that it violates previously stated Australian policy. In effect, the treaty binds signatories to the peaceful resolution of interstate disputes. While hard to argue with the virtue of that premise, Australia found reason to squabble and delay its signing. That reason? Pre-emption. Demonstrating the highest of loyalty to the United States (or, one could argue, to Bush), Howard never quite renounced the right of Australia to launch unprovoked military action. Prompted by the Bali bombings in 2002 and encouraged by the maze of violent, uncertain, and extremist Islam in Indonesia and the Philippines, Howard reserved the right to take out terrorist targets that he deemed a threat to Australian citizens. There is certainly a fair and valid argument to be made for this, and my hunch was that Howard would stick with it.
But he hasn't. This proves a couple things. First, it further demonstrates that Howard is not the stark zero-sum theorist -- one who sides with the United States at the expense of Asia -- that many make him out to be. Australia can remain a staunch U.S. ally and still nurture relations with its Asian neighbors. Second, it proves that Howard views the upcoming East Asia Summit as vital to Australian interests. Don't misunderstand this: by signing the amity treaty, Howard is definitely limiting Australia's strategic and tactical flexibility. This, in turn, could make Australia appreciably less useful to the United States as an ally, or rather as its "deputy" in Asia. So while Australia's alliance with the United States is in no real danger (especially given Howard's recent commitment of more Aussie troops to Afghanistan), and while the FT piece hints that Australia got a U.S. green light to sign the amity treaty, Howard's decision was by no means a foregone conclusion.
So Howard changes existing Australian policy, threatening to annoy the United States in the process, in order to get a seat at the East Asian table. This is a wholly pragmatic decision. Not only must Australia give due emphasis to relations with its Asian neighbors, but signing the amity agreement -- especially after initially refusing to do so -- represents an important show of compromise and pragmatism on Australia's part. This, in turn, will give Australia greater leverage at the summit itself, which by all accounts could mark the start of something big. Already, states as far away as Pakistan and Russia are clamoring to be invited to the inaugural summit. I'll reserve judgment as to whether such enthusiasm is justified, but obviously, the neighborhood thinks it will be a big deal. That Australia does as well only proves that it, too, is part of that same Asian neighborhood. Good for Howard to not only recognize that, but to act on it.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 09:46 PM to Australia/NZ
