{"id":20399,"date":"2015-05-19T12:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T02:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=20399"},"modified":"2015-05-18T12:21:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T02:21:51","slug":"the-commonwealths-call-to-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n

As the centenary of Anzac Day passes, considerable reflection and reassessment has taken place. Despite changes to the roles Australia and New Zealand play in world affairs, one international relationship has endured\u2014their association with the Commonwealth. This, in fact, has a strategic dimension, one which they can leverage in the 21st century for mutual peace and security.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we at Commonwealth Exchange produced the report,\u00a0The Commonwealth\u2019s Call to Duty<\/a>,<\/em> whose foreword was written by Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, former Secretary of State for Defence in the UK. The genesis of the report came from a blog post<\/a> written on this very site.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the report doesn\u2019t argue for the creation of a Commonwealth defence force or a security council like NATO. Nor are we undermining US hegemony or Anglosphere ties. Rather in a world of rapidly changing geo-politics, it\u2019s about those traditional Anglosphere defence powers creating opportunities to forge strategic links with emerging and developing Commonwealth economies.<\/p>\n

We charted both Australia\u2019s historic and modern connections with Commonwealth partners. Those ranged from Australia\u2019s leading role in the Commonwealth Occupying Force in Japan in 1946 which marked the first time British troops were under full Australian command; the 1st Commonwealth Division in the Korean War in 1951; the Commonwealth\u2019s Far East Strategic Reserve in Malaysia in 1954; then participation in the Commonwealth Monitoring Force in Zimbabwe in 1980.<\/p>\n

As for Australia\u2019s modern and future links, it remains a part of the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) with four other Commonwealth partners (the UK, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore). The Arrangement holds annual tri-force exercises and is described as \u2018particularly well suited to likely future strategic circumstances\u2026as it is a non-provocative form of hedging and confidence building\u2019.<\/p>\n

Australia could enhance many of its current ties. For example, one joint think tank study<\/a> suggested Australia help Canada join the FPDA, install reciprocal defence attach\u00e9s, establish annual defence minister meetings, and work together sharing expertise on Arctic and Antarctic responsibilities. With New Zealand it was recently acknowledged by both governments that despite the traditional close ties and their annual Defence Ministers meeting (ANZMM) the \u2018yearly cycle of talks has become overly driven by process\u2026and our very closeness can at times mean we do not push the limited of effective co-operation\u2019. Australia\u2019s link to Malaysia is also strong with its personnel at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth, but also with regular army and naval exercises. This led the Australian Government to state that \u2018there is a strong foundation for this relationship to develop further\u2019.<\/p>\n

Of significant interest is the nascent defence partnership with India. A number of Australian commentators have said focusing on being a Pacific power ignores the wider aim of establishing Australia as an Indo-Pacific power. The new bilateral deal<\/a> will see regular defence ministers\u2019 meetings and maritime exercise, but one leading Indian think tank<\/a> has said that deeper security cooperation is likely to take a long time to develop.<\/p>\n

Not forgetting the AUS\u2013UK relationship, this is underpinned by an annual Foreign and Defence Minister meeting (AUKMIN). However, as another author on The Strategist<\/em> has said<\/a>: \u2018Wallowing in heritage and history is no substitute for an active and more strategic relationship\u2026it\u2019s in Australia interests to do more with the UK to show that our strategic engagement isn\u2019t just limited to a handful to Asia\u2019s emerging powers\u2019.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the idea that Australia was not an active Commonwealth partner in defence is flawed, while opportunities for doing more in the modern era are certainly apparent. The question is how could Australia advance these links as well as create new ones?<\/p>\n

Our report\u2019s major proposal is the creation of a Commonwealth Security Forum (CSF) to take place alongside the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It could follow the hugely successful example of International Institute of Strategic Studies\u2019 Dialogue series.<\/p>\n

A CSF would provide all Commonwealth nations with the chance to discuss, understand and develop responses to a number of fundamental strategic concerns. It would also allow for private bilateral meetings to take place which could aid Australia in developing the Commonwealth ties mentioned above.<\/p>\n

Another recommendation is for the creation of a Commonwealth military scholarship to allow young officers the chance to study in other Commonwealth nations thereby increasing educational understanding, as well as trust and loyalty. The final proposal is to upscale officer exchange programs between Commonwealth nations which will foster greater interoperability and camaraderie between members.<\/p>\n

Crucial to the understanding of the Commonwealth strategic concerns is that we are looking ahead, not backwards. Ultimately solutions to the Commonwealth\u2019s pressing defence problems need progressive and modern architecture to deal with them.<\/p>\n

The last word should go to Dr Fox: \u2018We cannot have too much dialogue or an excess of information in the era of globalisation. It may be that the Commonwealth could be coming of age in the right way at the right time. It is time to be bold\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the centenary of Anzac Day passes, considerable reflection and reassessment has taken place. Despite changes to the roles Australia and New Zealand play in world affairs, one international relationship has endured\u2014their association with the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":20403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[286,17,635,197,205],"class_list":["post-20399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-aukmin","tag-australia","tag-commonwealth","tag-defence-diplomacy","tag-five-power-defence-arrangements"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the centenary of Anzac Day passes, considerable reflection and reassessment has taken place. Despite changes to the roles Australia and New Zealand play in world affairs, one international relationship has endured\u2014their association with the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-19T02:30:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-18T02:21:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Hewish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Hewish\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":510,\"caption\":\"The Bugle player of the Royal Australian Navy Band, Sydney Detachment, plays the last post during the 72nd Anniversary Marking the loss of HMAS Sydney II, held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sydney.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/\",\"name\":\"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-19T02:30:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-18T02:21:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ddc11a4862c43450640bb48d4688da3f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ddc11a4862c43450640bb48d4688da3f\",\"name\":\"Tim Hewish\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a4273b144ba6bf27b8e563f06b7a566?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a4273b144ba6bf27b8e563f06b7a566?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Hewish\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/tim-hewish\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist","og_description":"As the centenary of Anzac Day passes, considerable reflection and reassessment has taken place. Despite changes to the roles Australia and New Zealand play in world affairs, one international relationship has endured\u2014their association with the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2015-05-19T02:30:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-18T02:21:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":510,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tim Hewish","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Hewish","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/20131119ran8560098_088.jpg","width":800,"height":510,"caption":"The Bugle player of the Royal Australian Navy Band, Sydney Detachment, plays the last post during the 72nd Anniversary Marking the loss of HMAS Sydney II, held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sydney."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/","name":"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2015-05-19T02:30:37+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-18T02:21:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ddc11a4862c43450640bb48d4688da3f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-commonwealths-call-to-duty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Commonwealth\u2019s call to duty"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ddc11a4862c43450640bb48d4688da3f","name":"Tim Hewish","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a4273b144ba6bf27b8e563f06b7a566?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a4273b144ba6bf27b8e563f06b7a566?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Hewish"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/tim-hewish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20399"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20404,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20399\/revisions\/20404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}