{"id":35929,"date":"2017-11-30T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=35929"},"modified":"2018-07-18T15:33:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T05:33:01","slug":"foreign-policy-white-paper-2017-the-strategic-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/foreign-policy-white-paper-2017-the-strategic-implications\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign policy white paper 2017: the strategic implications"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The 2017 foreign policy white paper<\/a><\/em> is a well-crafted document that covers the key elements of Australia\u2019s foreign-policy outlook. In addition\u2014unlike its predecessors\u2014it sets out Australia\u2019s strategic priorities. It skilfully melds the geoeconomic and geostrategic components and addresses the central issues of the US and China, the Indo-Pacific region, the Asian democracies, and the need for Australia to refocus its vital interests on Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.<\/p>\n

Allan Gyngell has said<\/a> that the document makes \u2018as solid an effort as you could expect to say something useful about a world in which \u2026 \u201coften we will be responding to unexpected events\u201d\u2019. He considers it \u2018the most thoughtful and likeliest to last\u2019 of the three Australian foreign-policy white papers (1997, 2003 and 2017). I would add that it also gives a more relevant strategic policy analysis than the 2016 defence white paper, which recited more than 50 times the importance of the \u2018rules-based international order\u2019 just as that concept was about to be fundamentally challenged by the erratic President Donald Trump and the autocratic President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n

This white paper is also a much more useful policy tool than the Labor government\u2019s 2013 effort, Australia in the Asian century<\/a><\/em>. That document was written by a bunch of economists who thought that the future peace of the region would be ensured by its record of sustained economic growth and economic interdependence. That judgement too has been overtaken by events, not least by the rising tide of economic protectionism and inward-looking nationalist policies in the US and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Any white paper\u2014whether of the foreign-policy or defence kind\u2014is necessarily constrained by how bluntly it can express negative views about foreign countries. But that hasn\u2019t prevented this white paper from observing that without strong US political, economic and security engagement, power is likely to shift more quickly in the region and \u2018it will be more difficult for Australia to achieve the levels of security and stability we seek\u2019.<\/p>\n

It goes on to acknowledge that there is greater debate and uncertainty in the US about the costs and benefits of sustaining its global leadership. Without sustained American support, the effectiveness and liberal character of the rules-based order will decline, and the white paper concedes that America\u2019s long dominance of the international order \u2018is being challenged by other powers\u2019. These trends are converging to create an uncertain outlook for Australia.<\/p>\n

The white paper accepts that China is challenging America\u2019s position in our region and notes that, as China\u2019s power grows, the region is changing \u2018in ways without precedent in Australia\u2019s modern history\u2019. The paper uses code words to observe that \u2018in some cases, major powers are ignoring or undermining international law\u2019.<\/p>\n

It is blunt about the South China Sea, which is described as a major fault line in the regional order. Australia, it says, is particularly concerned about \u2018the unprecedented pace and scale of China\u2019s activities\u2019 there. It firmly states that Australia opposes the use of disputed features and artificial structures in the South China Sea for military purposes.<\/p>\n

And it concedes that in parts of the Indo-Pacific, including in Southeast Asia, China\u2019s power and influence are growing to match, and in some cases exceed, America\u2019s.<\/p>\n

We have never before seen such strong words in any Australian government white paper, whether foreign policy or defence.<\/p>\n

With regard to the Indo-Pacific region, the democracies of Japan, Indonesia, India and the Republic of Korea are described as being of \u2018first-order importance to Australia\u2019.<\/p>\n

Concerning Southeast Asia, the white paper says that it frames Australia\u2019s northern approaches and is of profound significance for our future. It sits at a nexus of strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. As competition for influence in the region grows, the government \u2018will increase Australia\u2019s efforts to ensure we are a leading security, economic and development partner for Southeast Asia\u2019.<\/p>\n

The security of Papua New Guinea, other Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste is described as being a fundamental Australian strategic interest. Stability in the region is \u2018vital to our ability to defend Australia\u2019s northern approaches, secure our borders and protect our exclusive economic zone\u2019. The government says it will deliver \u2018a step change\u2019 in our engagement with Pacific island countries.<\/p>\n

This quick synopsis shows just how different the 2017 foreign policy white paper<\/em> is and how it is an amalgam of both diplomacy and strategic priorities. Of course, that won\u2019t stop the apologists from asserting that China will never be a threat to us and that we need to encourage America to concede strategic space to Communist China. What is always missing from that line of appeasement is precisely what strategic space needs to be given up. Is it Taiwan? Is it the South China Sea? And is it to acknowledge Southeast Asia as a Chinese sphere of influence that would effectively leave us Finlandised?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2017 foreign policy white paper is a well-crafted document that covers the key elements of Australia\u2019s foreign-policy outlook. In addition\u2014unlike its predecessors\u2014it sets out Australia\u2019s strategic priorities. It skilfully melds the geoeconomic and geostrategic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":35937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[354,2047,52,285,883],"class_list":["post-35929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asia","tag-australia-us-relations","tag-china","tag-foreign-policy","tag-power","dinkus-foreign-policy-white-paper"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nForeign policy white paper 2017: the strategic implications | 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\/foreign-policy-white-paper-2017-the-strategic-implications\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foreign policy white paper 2017: the strategic implications | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2017 foreign policy white paper is a well-crafted document that covers the key elements of Australia\u2019s foreign-policy outlook. 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