{"id":36173,"date":"2017-12-08T12:30:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T01:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=36173"},"modified":"2018-07-18T15:55:12","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T05:55:12","slug":"foreign-policy-white-paper-2017-overlooking-a-powerful-western-neighbour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/foreign-policy-white-paper-2017-overlooking-a-powerful-western-neighbour\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign policy white paper 2017: overlooking a powerful Western neighbour"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Australia\u2019s 2017 white paper on foreign policy<\/a> is necessarily a sweeping ranking of priorities and partners. Not unexpectedly, the paper renews our commitment to our major partner, the United States, while foreshadowing a nuanced relationship with China, about which there has been much academic discussion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The paper makes precious little mention, however, of France, our closest eastern neighbour through its territory, New Caledonia. France\u2019s Pacific territory bookends the entire South Pacific<\/a>\u2014with New Caledonia at the western end off Queensland, and uninhabited Clipperton Island to the far east just off the Mexican coast\u2014and occupies the strategic centre, at French Polynesia and the Territory of Wallis and Futuna. France also maintains naval and air assets and nearly 3,000 military personnel<\/a> in New Caledonia and French Polynesia.<\/p>\n

In the way of these types of analyses, French strategic experts will undoubtedly play the game of \u2018spot the references to France\u2019 in this rare statement of Australian foreign policy objectives. In that they\u2019ll be disappointed. There are just four specific mentions of \u2018France\u2019. Two of them are in the glossary (listing members of the G20 and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action relating to Iran\u2019s nuclear program, pp. 118 and 119). Of the remaining two substantive references, the first (p. 81) identifies France as one of two key EU member states (the other is Germany) after the United Kingdom with which Australia will strengthen bilateral relationships on global economic governance. The other at least appears in the Pacific chapter (p. 103), but only notes joint maritime surveillance and disaster management activities with the US and New Zealand under the 1992 FRANZ arrangement.<\/p>\n

While there are many general references to \u2018working with [unspecified] others\u2019 in the document (for example, over North Korea (p. 4) and on counter-terrorism (p. 7)) and one to working with \u2018Pacific partners\u2019 (p. 103), it can\u2019t be assumed that France is among their number. It\u2019s to be hoped that France isn\u2019t covered by the reference in the Pacific chapter to engaging \u2018the Pacific\u2019s outside partners\u2019 (p. 100), given France\u2019s unique status as a Western partner with a substantial resident sovereign status in the South Pacific.<\/p>\n

Why are these frugal references to France disappointing?<\/p>\n

First, because France sees its relationship with Australia as entering a new \u2018strategic partnership\u2019 phase<\/a>, and Australia itself signed on to an \u2018enhanced strategic partnership<\/a>\u2018 with France earlier this year. So far, the content of those intentions is less than clear, and the white paper doesn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n

Second, Australia only last year granted its largest defence contract ever\u2014$53 billion to construct 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines\u2014to France. It would be logical to extract some kind of quid pro quo in terms of, say, closer defence collaboration, a refreshed approach by France to concluding an EU free trade agreement with Australia, or greater scientific and technical collaboration. But there\u2019s no such mention.<\/p>\n

Third, France and Australia are facing the same challenges in the South Pacific region<\/a>, and it isn\u2019t unreasonable to assume that we would be looking at new ways to work with France to manage them.<\/p>\n

A relevant side issue is the paper\u2019s emphasis on the \u2018Indo-Pacific\u2019. This notion minimises Australia\u2019s separate strategic reaches into the Pacific in the east, Asia-Pacific in the north, and the Indian Ocean to the west.\u00a0 \u00a0It thereby conceptually diminishes relative Australian strategic influence in the Pacific at a time when the most dramatic geostrategic power shifts are occurring there. Australia, by its geography and continental status, is the only country to be endowed with such an enviable triple-headed reach. France, as a western ally which shares, through its overseas territories, two of those spheres of interest, in the Indian and Pacific oceans, would seem a logical partner.<\/p>\n

The white paper\u2019s relegation of France to the status of an important but primarily European power in Australia\u2019s global efforts, and just a longstanding FRANZ partner in the South Pacific, undervalues the potential of a partnership with a well-resourced power with similar interests in the two oceans at a time of change.<\/p>\n

Finally, the few references to France don\u2019t seem to match with the paper\u2019s overall prioritisation of climate change and sustainable development, key focal points in the immediate Pacific neighbourhood and areas in which France, through its technological expertise deriving from its research centres in the region, is well placed to contribute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s 2017 white paper on foreign policy is necessarily a sweeping ranking of priorities and partners. Not unexpectedly, the paper renews our commitment to our major partner, the United States, while foreshadowing a nuanced relationship …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":36191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[285,291,56,921],"class_list":["post-36173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-foreign-policy","tag-france","tag-indo-pacific","tag-new-caledonia","dinkus-foreign-policy-white-paper"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nForeign policy white paper 2017: overlooking a powerful Western neighbour | 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-overlooking-a-powerful-western-neighbour\/\" \/>\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: overlooking a powerful Western neighbour | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia\u2019s 2017 white paper on foreign policy is necessarily a sweeping ranking of priorities and partners. 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