Australias National Interests Would Be Better Served by Pursuing a Policy Independent of the USA - Essay Example

? Australia’s National Interests Would Be Better Served By Pursuing A Foreign Policy That Is More Independent Of The United s Critically evaluate the claim, citing relevant examples or other evidence to illustrate your argument. National Interests are broadly defined as the fundamental objectives of any country concerning economic, political, social or technological excellence. Every country around the globe strategizes to achieve dominance and supremacy on the regional and later on the global level. Hence the national interests play the most significant role in the overall economic and political stability of a country. These are typically associated with foreign policy and international relations (McLean, 2006). For instance, Australia’s primary national interest was to gain strategic dominance in the region to fight against all possible external threats. Initially it was among the colonies of UK in the pre World War II era and therefore it had to face substantial political threats soon after the independence. Hence forming ANZUS alliance with USA was the foremost step in order to safeguard the national interests of the country (McLean, 2006). However, after the US declaration of war on terror the overall nature of ANZUS was dramatically changed and Australia’s national interests began to get negatively affected by the intervention of US. Now researchers are critically analyzing the core objectives of ANZUS alliance and the current political scenario. It would be now significantly better for the Australian government to execute an independent foreign policy so as to protect its national goals and objectives. Moreover such independence will facilitate the Australian government to save itself from the international wars and politics. But the consequences and reaction of US government in such a situation cannot be underestimated (Umetsu, 2006). This paper aims to critically evaluate the relationship between Australia and USA in terms of Australia’s national interests and foreign policy. Moreover, it will discuss the key interest behind ANZUS alliance since 1950s, the core reasons behind Australia’s participation in wars against Afghanistan and Iraq including its moral and legal justifications. This shall be followed by Australia’s relationships with Asia and Middle East subsequently leading to the end of discussion i.e. either independent foreign policy is suitable for Australia or not. Since the very beginning Australia has depended upon the British and American powers in order to gain strategic benefits and also to fulfill its national interests. When British were ruling the world Australians were under their strong influence. However, when America came into power it also took control over the foreign policies and strategic matters of Australia. This ultimately resulted in ANZUS alliance which was formed in 1950 (McLean, 2006). Historical records reveal that Australia was never able to practice complete authority over its national matters due to the mental dependency and also because of the massive influence of American power. Critics such as Alan Ramsey argue that Australian government officials have proved to be more sincere to US rather than to their own nation. Hence it can be said that Australia actually transformed into an American colony after gaining independence from Britain (McLean, 2006). Australia had some key interests in forming and maintaining ANZUS alliance. For instance, in the post-World War II era Australia needed to have strong foreign relationships in order to meet any threat to its national interests. Furthermore, the significantly strong economic position of USA played a vital role in driving and uplifting the Australian economy, while on the other hand Australia was specifically interested in gaining domestic political benefits from US interventions (Beeson, 2003). If we closely analyze the address of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s to the Congress representatives in the US then we can easily anticipate that Australia is not only strategically under the control of US government rather the Australians themselves are forced to accept US decisions and foreign plans (Gillard, 2011). After gaining independence as a consequence of the World War II the Australian government had to have some political and strategic security from the next super power ruling the world. This was important in order to save the national interests of the country while protecting people from any possible external threat. Hence ANZUS alliance was formed to avail national security from US government (Lyon, 2005). In relation to this United States also had its specific and distinctive interests so as to maintain the ANZUS alliance. For example, gaining regional benefits from Australia i.e. after the World War II America was seeking respectable allies in the Asia-Pacific region in order to smooth her relationship with Japan. Therefore it had to enter into some political and strategic alliance to gain favors from Australia (Edwards, 2005). Moreover, America wanted to enrage huge wars in the future so as to fight against terrorism which was accelerating at an immense rate. In order words America was strategizing for complete political and economic dominance over the world. This target would not have been achieved without the support of some of the former British colonies. These colonies including Australia were expected to become strongly influential and politically stable after the World War II. Hence considering the future status and political potential of Australia, USA decided to form an alliance with her (Tow, 2004). ANZUS alliance has proved significantly beneficial for both the countries which is evident from the political structure of Australia and its immense support to the US war on terror. The primary motive of Australian government to form this alliance was to gain strategic support and this was substantially achieved in the last few decades as no other country was able to attack Australia. Moreover, due to the immense technological support extended by US, Australia excelled in most of the economic and political sectors. In contrast to this ANZUS alliance played a major role in building sound relationships between America and Japan in the post World War II era (Hirst, 2007). Furthermore, Australia has supported American invasions on Afghanistan and Iraq which shall be discussed later in this paper. The event of 9/11 is the most distinctive occurrence in the whole century because it not only targeted the economic center of America but it challenged the American sovereignty and control over inferior nations. Hence in order to safeguard its national interests America had to identify the real culprit which was later located in the Afghanistan region (Saikal, 2002). This whole scenario was a political challenge for America and its allies were equally disturbed by the massive destruction in New York. Hence 9/11 and its following events provoked America to attack Afghanistan. Australia’s involvement in the Afghan war was typically due to the terrorists’ attacks on America and the future risks to the Australian security (Goot, 2007). But in case of Iraq there were other significant reasons which compelled the Australian government to support US invasions. The most prominent reason was the traces of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which were found in Iraq. This was the core reason given by the Australian Prime Minister to help US in initiating war against Iraq and to destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein (Goot, 2007). Australia had already realized that the regime of Saddam Hussein was becoming more and more powerful with the development of mass destruction weapons and hence the Australian government found it necessary to replace the Iraqi president with someone more suitable for their own strategic policies and national interests (Doig, et. al., 2007). Critics also argue that Australia had no choice of either supporting USA or condemning its attack on Afghanistan or Iraq because according to the ANZUS alliance signed in 1950s Australia was obliged to help USA in any invasion. Although this could be a biased opinion but on the other hand the excessive Australian support to the US government and significant sacrifice of Australian national interests actually creates much controversies upon the foreign policy and ambiguous actions of the government (Kevin, 2010). Australia’s involvement in US invasions on Iraq and Afghanistan brought its image under serious scrutiny. For instance, people all over the world and especially the Australian citizens became more critical about its image as US ally. This was basically because of the massive destruction which took place in Afghanistan and Iraq where thousands of innocent people were killed and forced to immigrate while others were left to the mercy of US and Australian soldiers (George, 2003). Hence on the moral ground the Australian participation in these wars can never be justified, while in the legal terms it turned out to be a strong American influence on Australian politics. The national interest of Australia were put under significant danger as much of the national resources and monetary reserves were being utilized in order to support America in war against terrorism. Moreover, the security of Australia was further reduced because it had successfully stimulated America’s enemies (George, 2003). Apart from this the overall Australian involvement in US strategic decisions unveiled new perspectives to the alliance’s politics because initially ANZUS alliance was formed to protect Australian and US national interests whereas now Australia was more concerned about its national security. However, the Australian participation in US invasions revealed that such alliances are not limited to the stated objectives rather they have much narrowed interests which are usually kept hidden from mass population (Tow and Albinski, 2002). This has subsequently aroused different controversies about Australia’s foreign relationships particularly with the Arab world and Asian countries. Since Australia immensely supported US invasions on Iraq and Afghanistan even beyond its national interests, therefore its domestic political strategies got disturbed which significantly affected its international affiliations. Now the critical issue is that the overall nature of these relationships is getting worse from bad because terrorism and poor relations with Asia had actually become the describing characteristics of Australian government (Ungerer, 2006). For instance, the investigation reports of Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) revealed that Australia faces substantial security issues primarily from the South Asian region because of its involvement in US strategic decisions. The poor relationships with the Asia and the Middle East have actually brought significant challenges for Australia in terms of internal and external damage (Ungerer, 2006). Australian security was actually challenged with the US attacks of 9/11 since it is a close ally of United States of American. Thereafter Australia decided to help US in Afghan and Iraq invasions which were fundamentally executed to fight against terrorism. However, the consequences were somewhat opposite to the expectations of Australian population as it led the whole nation to doubt the strategic decisions of Australia (Hirst, 2007). Therefore it can be said that Australia did not only face the adverse effects of having a close relationship with US on the international level, rather on the domestic level also it has lost its prestige and credibility (Hirst, 2007). In my view, Australia must discontinue its ties with the United States of America because it has already suffered a lot in terms of national politics. Initially, after the World War II Australia and USA signed the ANZUS alliance in order to secure Australia from external threats, while on the other hand US aimed at getting regional benefits from it. However, after the successful coalition of more than fifty years, the ANZUS has turned out to be a significant challenge for the Australian national interests. This happened soon after the tragic events of 9/11 where terrorists made direct attack on the American economic trade centers having posed a serious threat to the American government as well. Hence, US attacked Afghanistan so as to restore its previous status and as a close ally Australia had to support these attacks. Basically this act by the Australian government officials could have been justified if the national interests of the country were not sacrificed. But in reality the national interests were not only underestimated rather they were completely ignored. This can be substantiated on the basis of the fact that Australian government spent a huge amount on military services extended to Afghanistan apart from using national resources in support of American strategic decisions. Participating in such wars while sacrificing the national interests is not an easy political decision and therefore the Australian government blended it with the local values and security issues. Australia now needs to have a foreign policy that is independent of US intervention and which specifically addresses all the national threats. This is important in order to restore the previous relationship between Australia and Asian countries which are worsening since the start of war on terrorism. Moreover, Australian population has lost confidence in its government due to its ambiguous relationship with US. Hence it would be highly feasible for Australia to restrict US interference in its political strategies and international relations. 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