{"id":25335,"date":"2016-03-15T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T19:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=25335"},"modified":"2016-03-15T09:24:36","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T22:24:36","slug":"seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\"4164416520_b08c418dd7_o\"<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s defence thinkers are ever worried about self-reliance and order.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rs reign: rules and self-reliance and region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those themes run through the 40 years from the first Defence White Paper in 1976 to the just-released seventh Defence White Paper.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the order front, the 1976 White Paper described the demise of colonialism as producing \u2018a new world order\u2019 while the Communist victories in Indo-China made for an uncertain regional future. The White Paper said the US wanted \u2018a peaceful and stable world order\u2019 while the USSR sought \u2018disruptive political change\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2016 White Paper worries repeatedly that the old order is cracking. The US is still seen as central to a stable world order. One guess about the identity of the big player guilty of seeking disruptive change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to another effort to seek strategic topography from the typography\u2014tracking the use of words\/concepts through the seven Defence White Papers in<\/span> 1976<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 1987<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 1994<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 2000<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 2009<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> 2013<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> 2016<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous columns counted the number of times<\/span> countries<\/span><\/a> were mentioned and the use of<\/span> geographic constructs<\/span><\/a> (from Asia\u2013Pacific to Indo\u2013Pacific). Now to follow themes and memes over the 40 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the great Canberra mandarins,<\/span> Arthur<\/span><\/a> Tange<\/span><\/a>, was proud of getting Oz \u2018self reliance\u2019 into the 1976 paper. But self reliance\/self reliant appeared in the text only six times (once as a heading). That was enough to make it<\/span> seminal<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The number of mentions isn\u2019t the only measure of the importance of a key idea\u2014although the usual White Paper habit is instruction and injunction by multiple iterations. Say the same thing repeatedly so everyone gets the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

The full rhetorical flowering of the idea that Australia could defend itself came in Labor\u2019s 1987 White Paper. Australian \u2018self-reliance\u2019 got 43 mentions and \u2018self-reliant\u2019 defence got a further 13 goes.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1994, self reliance\/reliant was worth 24 mentions. The Cold War was gone. Asia would \u2018increasingly\u2019 determine its own affairs and \u2018a new strategic architecture will evolve.\u2019 The new architecture was supposed to deliver order.<\/span><\/p>\n

In John Howard\u2019s 2000 White Paper, self-reliance was given due weight with eight mentions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Kevin Rudd\u2019s 2009 Paper self-reliance was worth 15 goes, while Julia Gillard gave it seven. The 2016 White Paper salutes \u2018self-reliant\u2019 twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Self reliance may remain a central concept; it just doesn\u2019t get referred to as much. By contrast, the number of times the United States gets mentioned<\/span> keeps growing<\/span><\/a> (from 12 times in the 1976 Paper to 129 in 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n

John Howard is notable for delivering both process and cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Howard created the National Security Committee of Cabinet and it put in the hours on the 2000 Paper. Howard boasted it was \u2018the most comprehensive process of ministerial-level decision making about Australia\u2019s defence policy for many years\u2019. And in a big difference from all previous White Papers, the promised cash arrived in the years that followed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coalition budgets from 2000 to 2007 matched Howard\u2019s words about \u2018the most specific long-term defence funding commitment given by any Australian Government in over 25 years\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

As self reliance faded in usage, the need for rules rose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Rudd\u2019s Strategic Interests chapter had a section headed, \u2018A Stable, Rules-Based Global Security Order.\u2019 There were 11 \u2018rules-based\u2019 mentions. The 2013 Paper matched it with a dozen references to the need for rules, while its heading was \u2018A Stable, Rules-Based Global Order\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Come to 2016 and \u2018rules\u2019 is used 64 times\u201448 of these in the formulation \u2018rules-based global order\u2019. Rules turns up in three section headings: \u2018The rules-based global order\u2019, \u2018A stable Indo-Pacific region and a rules-based global order\u2019, and \u2018Australia\u2019s interests in a rules-based global order\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talk about hammering the point. And the point is fear of what is fraying.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Rules-based global order\u2019 is a big phrase to cover such disparate forces as jihadism and China\u2019s rise. Mostly, though, it\u2019s about China.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first of the topography-from-typography columns observed that these days when Australia talks about the US, often it\u2019s really<\/span> thinking about China<\/span><\/a>. Much the same goes for \u2018rules-based global order\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the repeated message of the 2016 White Paper, \u2018rules-based\u2019 is the meme for an Australia proclaiming a bigger defence budget, driven by a region throbbing with political nervousness, diplomatic neuralgia and strategic angst.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s defence thinkers are ever worried about self-reliance and order. The Rs reign: rules and self-reliance and region. Those themes run through the 40 years from the first Defence White Paper in 1976 to the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":25336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[143,52,1636,56,1650],"class_list":["post-25335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asia-pacific","tag-china","tag-defence-white-paper-2016","tag-indo-pacific","tag-rules-based-order"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | 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\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia\u2019s defence thinkers are ever worried about self-reliance and order. The Rs reign: rules and self-reliance and region. Those themes run through the 40 years from the first Defence White Paper in 1976 to the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/\" \/>\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=\"2016-03-14T19:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-14T22:24:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\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=\"Graeme Dobell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 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\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":333,\"caption\":\"Image courtesy of Flickr user Caroline\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/\",\"name\":\"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-14T19:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-14T22:24:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f\",\"name\":\"Graeme Dobell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graeme Dobell\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | 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\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | The Strategist","og_description":"Australia\u2019s defence thinkers are ever worried about self-reliance and order. The Rs reign: rules and self-reliance and region. Those themes run through the 40 years from the first Defence White Paper in 1976 to the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2016-03-14T19:00:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-14T22:24:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":333,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graeme Dobell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graeme Dobell","Est. reading time":"3 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\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/4164416520_a2392547d4_z.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"caption":"Image courtesy of Flickr user Caroline"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/","name":"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-03-14T19:00:31+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-14T22:24:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/seven-defence-white-papers-by-the-numbers-3-themes-and-memes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seven Defence White Papers by the numbers (3): themes and memes"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ed3342cd61abc65c1532f3cc46bdf96f","name":"Graeme Dobell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dff56734d4df784248f63058b7b6900a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graeme Dobell"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/graeme-dobell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25335"}],"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\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25347,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25335\/revisions\/25347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}