Driven by a rising China and arms exports from the United States, military spending in Asia is on the increase.
World Cuts Back Military Spending, But Not Asia
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Australia
The Asia-Pacific Pivot: More Smoke Than Firepower
The lumbering aircraft carrier known as the United States should be executing a pivot that lives up to its name: a shift from the martial to the pacific.
SOTU: Obama Grades His Foreign Policy
Former law professor Barack Obama went into surprising depth on issues of war and peace during his fifth State of the Union address. Here’s how he should grade himself.
Open Fire and Open Markets: The Asia-Pacific Pivot and Trans-Pacific Partnership
Thomas Friedman once said the hidden hand of the market needs the hidden fist of the military. The TPP and the Obama administration’s Pacific Pivot pack both.
Postcard from… Darwin
When the first contingent of 250 U.S. Marines flew into Darwin last April, they were greeted on the tarmac with a personal handshake by Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith and welcomed to the city by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (NT), Paul Henderson. When they left, there were no politicians to be seen.
Grand Poobah of R2P Goes All Travis Bickle on FPIF’s Zunes
When foreign minister of Australia, celebrated peace advocate Gareth Evans countenanced Indonesian slaughter in East Timor.
Australia Remilitarizes
Recent transformations in the international system, notably the rise of China and an economic slump in the West, are rapidly ushering in a new age in Australian foreign policy. Slowly the sleeping continent has awoken to the din of machinery in uranium mines, shipbuilders in dry docks, and the arrival of a new contingent of U.S. Marines – the latter only the most recent indication of a re-posturing of the country’s foreign policy against perceived Chinese expansionism.
Australian PM Gillard’s Call for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons No Shot in the Dark
Australia’s call for an end to nuclear weapons is a process that began with the formation of an international commission on nonproliferation and disarmament.
Asia’s New Axis?
Australia and South Korea have both experienced major political shifts, but in opposite directions. Australia has emerged from 11 years of conservative government under John Howard to Labor under Kevin Rudd. South Korea is going from 10 years of progressive government under Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun to the conservatives under Lee Myung Bak.
Rudd: Up from Down Under
Australia’s new prime minister is comfortable with firsts. Kevin Rudd is the only Western leader who is fluent in Mandarin. He has set off on a lengthy world tour just after assuming office, with the first stop in the United States. And he kicked off the tour by quietly honoring an election pledge and opting out of a security alliance in the controversial occupation of Iraq.