Australia's Place in the World
MELBOURNE – 14 September, 2010 – Dr Michael Wesley, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy has suggested that the world is now entering the “Indo-Pacific era”, in a speech for Asialink-Asia Society AustralAsia Centre on the topic of Australia’s Place in the World.
He said that new alliances were assuming strategic significance on par with the San Francisco system of Asia-Pacific alliances.
“Asia-Pacific institutions such as APEC and the ASEAN regional forum are relied on for less and less while Indo-Pacific institutions such as the East Asian summit and the Asian caucus of the G20 are invested with high expectations,” he said.
Dr Wesley charted the history of Australian identity and reflected on data from recent polling into Australian’s views on the world.
He suggested that the Australia of the 21st century could be viewed as a Western country, but on its own terms.
“We could also say, perhaps, that the Australia of the 21st century is also an Asian country, but on its own terms,” he said.
“Rather than being about identity, I think our new phase of self-questioning will be about civic values – about what we stand for and what we won’t stand for at home and overseas.”
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