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Backgrounder: Australia's Security Role in the Pacific

Council on Foreign Relations

Author: Esther Pan, Staff Writer
June 16, 2006

Introduction

Australia, which twenty years ago saw itself as a minor player on the world stage, is increasingly asserting itself in the Pacific region. Canberra is playing a strong role in establishing and maintaining regional security, and Australian troops are currently deployed in peacekeeping, peacemaking, and reconstruction missions from Iraq and Afghanistan to East Timor and the Solomon Islands. But not everyone welcomes Australia's new muscularity: Critics say Canberra is too influenced by Washington, and some Southeast Asian nations are wary of Australia's motives as its military influence increases.

What is Australia's current role in maintaining security in the Pacific?

Experts say Australia sees itself as a leader in the region, focused on assisting Asian Pacific states with their economic development and stability. It encourages good governance and improved economic performance in its neighbors. Australian officials say the nation feels an obligation—for both security and humanitarian reasons—to ensure the countries around it are both stable and prosperous. But some critics say Australia sometimes ignores the views of other states on what they, instead of Canberra, see as threats to their security. "In practice, Australia plays a rather clumsy or overbearing hand in its relations with the region," says Craig Snyder, director of the international relations postgraduate studies program at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. "Its assistance often reflects more Australian interests or issues than those of the Pacific states."

What kind of military activities does Australia pursue in the region?

Australia provides military-to-military assistance to several countries in the region, ranging from joint exercises and training to helping with infrastructure development. It also has been very active in peacekeeping and peacemaking missions. In 1999, some 5,000 Australian forces led a UN multinational force in East Timor charged with halting violence after the territory voted for independence from Jakarta.

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Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.