Bulletin

Issue: April 2006

News

Australia and Japan: lessons after Sept 11

The first publication from a ten-nation, five-year project examining the evolution of US alliances around the world since the end of the Cold War – and particularly since September 11 – has been published by La Trobe University’s School of Social Sciences.

The publication is based on the results of a international workshop, hosted late last year by Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan and co-sponsored by La Trobe University.

It explored ‘Alternatives for Australia and Japan post Cold War’, deepening dialogue on ethical and policy implications of the dramatic developments of the last few years for Japan’s and Australia’s role in the region.

The four-day gathering was initiated and organised by La Trobe Professor of International Relations, Joseph Camilleri, and Dr Mick Seigel from the Institute for Social Ethics at Nanzan.

Sixteen contributions examined the security policies of the two countries, China, the United States and the ASEAN countries. Regional and international organisations, in particular the United Nations, were also a focus of discussion.

Professor Camilleri says the aim of the project was to assess how Japan and Australia, ‘two different yet strangely similar polities’, have reacted, and are trying to adapt to the radically altered geopolitical, economic and cultural circumstances of post-September 11.

‘In both countries there is a sense of vulnerability and threat, and both have aligned themselves closely with the US led “war on terror” because of their strong security alliance with the United States.

‘In Japan much has been made of the North Korean nuclear weapons program, and both the Australian and Japanese governments have chosen to emphasise the uncertainties ahead and the critical importance of the US role in Asia.

‘Though a wide cross-section of public opinion in Japan and Australia remains opposed to the US invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, both countries have come to be viewed as regional deputies of the United States.’

Professor Camilleri describes the project as a significant landmark in collaborative Australian-Japanese international relations scholarship.

It was organised with colleagues, Australian Studies Project Officer, Mr Larry Marshall, and Dr Michális Michael, who is playing a key role in the establishment of La Trobe’s new Centre for Dialogue to be formally launched later this year.

Nanzan University invited six leading Japanese scholars and one from Pakistan to contribute papers.

Presenters invited by La Trobe included Professor Desmond Ball (Australian National University), Dr Michael Hamel-Green (Victoria University), Dr Nick Bisley (Deakin University), Dr Richard Tanter (Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability), Professor Allan Patience (University of Papua New Guinea) and Dr Chandra Muzaffar (International Movement for a Just World in Malaysia).

Professor Camilleri says nearly 6,000 copies of the publication have been distributed worldwide. Officials involved in the East Asian Summit held in Kuala Lumpur last December were the first to receive copies. A book based on the papers and deliberations of the workshop will soon be published in English and Japanese.

Copies of the publication are available from Christine Siokou, Email: c.siokou@latrobe.edu.au