{"id":12019,"date":"2014-01-31T12:15:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T01:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=12019"},"modified":"2014-02-03T08:50:02","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T21:50:02","slug":"australias-nuclear-security-leadership-far-exceeds-middle-power-pretensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australias-nuclear-security-leadership-far-exceeds-middle-power-pretensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s nuclear security leadership far exceeds middle-power pretensions"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s been a long-running debate on The Strategist<\/i> about whether Australia should be content with middle-power status<\/a>. It\u2019s a term that many Australians think downplays their country\u2019s strategic importance, especially its growing centrality to the security and stability of the dynamic Asia-Pacific region. This debate might appear self-absorbed and parochial to many outside Australia, but it has important implications for international security cooperation.<\/p>\n In several key areas, Canberra has demonstrated a level of international leadership that has far exceeded any middle-power pretensions. Nuclear security is one of these. Over the years, Australian nuclear security experts have honed their expertise and transformed Australia into a world leader in nuclear security practices<\/a>, both in securing materials and facilities at home and in helping build nuclear security capacity abroad. They’ve learned key lessons<\/a> along the way, including how to successfully transfer critical skills to neighbouring states, how to help national and international organisations develop and improve nuclear security mechanisms and guidance, and how to build international consensus around the need to take nuclear and radiological terrorism risks seriously.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s efforts have boosted Australia\u2019s national security, that of its near neighbours, and the rest of the world. Despite this, the country\u2019s nuclear security legacy isn’t valued as highly as it should be in Australia\u2019s decision-making circles. A lack of publicity surrounding Australia\u2019s nuclear and radiological security work means that most Australians, including many in the political and strategic realms, don\u2019t fully appreciate the nature of global nuclear and radiological threats or the extent to which Australia\u2019s expertise and outreach efforts are respected and relied upon around the world (as are Australia\u2019s efforts in non-proliferation and disarmament). This helps explain why one of Australia\u2019s flagship projects, known as the Regional Security of Radiological Sources (RSRS) Project, was recently cancelled<\/a>. There\u2019s a disconnect between Australia\u2019s nuclear security champions, who operate both in the official and non-governmental sphere, and Canberra\u2019s political elite.<\/p>\n The new Abbott government can address this problem by launching a nuclear security strategy<\/a> that would require a modest financial output (about $2 million per year) and yet reap significant national, regional and international rewards. Such a strategy would consist of:<\/p>\n These initiatives would serve the triple purpose of helping to reduce nuclear dangers, achieve Australia\u2019s broader strategic objectives, and fulfil its international obligations\u2014and all at a very modest cost. Nuclear security is an area that has long offered Canberra a \u2018fair go\u2019 to turn a small investment into an ability to exert leadership in the international arena and, by doing so, strengthen ties with key allies and new partners. The upcoming Nuclear Security Summit, which is due to be held in The Hague at the end of March, provides the Abbott government with the perfect opportunity to do this, building on many years of nuclear security efforts that have far exceeded middle-power pretensions and earned Australia its reputation as a global leader.<\/p>\n Tanya Ogilvie-White is director of research at the Centre for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament, Australian National University. David Santoro is a senior fellow at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies. These ideas are further elaborated in <\/i>Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: Australia’s Leadership Role<\/a> (Canberra: Australian Strategic Policy Institute, January 2014). Image courtesy of Flickr user: <\/i>IAEA Imagebank.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s been a long-running debate on The Strategist about whether Australia should be content with middle-power status. It\u2019s a term that many Australians think downplays their country\u2019s strategic importance, especially its growing centrality to the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":12024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[466,173,346,603,301,206,172],"class_list":["post-12019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-disarmament","tag-iaea","tag-leadership","tag-middle-power","tag-national-security-2","tag-non-proliferation","tag-nuclear-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\n
\n