Kurt By Sea: Re-Imagining Australia’s Security is a first-rate guide for any Australian seeking to understand our current national security. Jim Cable.
How refreshing to find such a clear and detailed analysis of Australia’s relationship with its neighbors and other superpowers – and to find it unspoiled by ideologues (think ASPI one) and their clamoring media enablers (thinking Peter Hartzer And Matthew Knott) in this work.
In my early reading – when I reached for my pen to add “but…” to the idea or argument being presented – the next paragraph was already answering my question.
The introduction raises questions the book answers and expands on in 'Chapter One: Australia’s Strategic Imagination’. The following six chapters deal with the directional implications of the oceans surrounding our country: Australia’s „North Sea”; Western Pacific; South China Sea; South Pacific; Indian Ocean; and the Southern Ocean. With original perspectives to inform the reader, it’s not just the old Pacific focus (the delight of the eastern states) or the relatively newly devised rubric of the Indo-Pacific – it’s all directions.
And NATO’s talk of Asian engagement should be feared by Australia
It became particularly clear to this reader how the United States intruded itself in all directions with its military bases on the sovereign lands of subjugated countries (including Australia) and its various colonies. It was also clear how the United States has positioned itself at the head of every table and at the center of alliance-wide discussions and manipulations.
However, this is just my reading. The writers are fairly even in their presentation, though they don’t avoid that elephant in the room.
All the defense maneuvers they refer to for this reader are a kind of game – almost a game of chess – where every national move is met by some deterrent mechanism. Unfortunately, it is clear that Australia is only playing after its leader. It has no strategy for genuine independence that will enable the country to engage with its geographical neighbours.
Each chapter examines the historical record, examines the current approach, and concludes by asking what Australia should be doing differently. Before making recommendations and offers.
Among the issues discussed is the pseudo-nature of the so-called rules-based order (when it is relevant) – reminding the reader of Timor Leste or Australia’s opposition to Huawei. its transactions with Papua New Guinea. Another issue is the increasing control of US military bases and surveillance operations inside Australia – making Australia a potential target and Australia being seen as a US lap dog. It also discusses issues facing Australia’s First Nations peoples in the Torres Strait and international boundary issues relating to Ashmore and Cartier Islands.
And then there’s AUKUS – certainly not popular in Indonesia (let alone with many Australians) due to nuclear risks. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating points out that AUKUS will only have an effect if an attack occurs On that day US forces – not offensive By American forces.
Australia and the AUKUS nuclear waste-dumping rule
Should the US start a conflict with China over Taiwan, what are the implications for Australia? There may be blockades of shipping, loss of energy and medical supplies, and the deployment of nuclear weapons. The government should balance people and consider the perspectives of our neighbors before any conflicts escalate. Australia should work with Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea to defuse tensions.
In relation to China and our trade with it, Australia must abandon its shamefully provocative naval engagements at the behest of the US in the South China Sea. We need to take a more nuanced perspective on the Paracel and Spratly Islands, where our alarmist reporter confusingly and wrongly conflates all the international claims and disputes. It should be noted that the US itself does not adhere to a „rules-based order” and has not ratified UNCLOS (’).United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’).
Uncritical acceptance of AUKUS by the media is detrimental to Australia
This book is presented dispassionately and ideologically. Excessively vocal expressions of „freedom of navigation” serve only US interests – not regional priorities – and Australia’s economic interests are not served well by being vocal on controversial matters.
This reader noted Australia’s response to some independence moves from the Solomon Islands and its then Prime Minister. My heart is sad – Shaming the defense pact Solomons signed with China as a mini-America’s outrage Monroe Doctrine.
Indeed, Australia’s fears appear to be largely generated by the US, and an analysis of the claim that China is implementing debt-trap diplomacy seems to bear out the charge. It also seems to run along the lines of most military impositions, though not so much in others (such as Tonga) with its dependencies on US occupation interventions. Although many have been announced as economic packages, many are yet to be approved.
Conclusion An excellent summary essay. Australia should question its relationship with the US. It needs to reconceptualize its security beyond that of a settler-colonial state – it needs to recognize a multicultural nation with a strong tribal history and a future that needs to focus on its “neighbourhood”.
It should be realized and understood that its protection will increase No While neatly aligned with the interests of others, it may have things to learn from its neighbors and Southeast Asia is fertile ground for Australia to collaborate. That military deterrence is insufficient to guarantee security and may actually lead to an arms race. And – given that Australia is a maritime nation – the Royal Australian Navy is neglected and under-resourced.
This book is a first-rate guide for any Australian who wants to understand the current state of our national security and how it can be improved.
Gird by sea: Re-imagining Australia’s security, by Rebecca Strating And Joan Wallis Available from Black Inc Books Here.
This book was reviewed by a member of the IA Book Club. If you want to get free high quality books, you should post your review on IA, Subscribe To Independent Australia as your complimentary IA Book Club member.
Jim Cable He is a retired teacher who taught in rural and metropolitan NSW, Europe, and then for long periods in Japan. He is also a member of the steering committee of the political party The New Liberals.