Australia in peace and war : external relations since 1788

Abstract

AUSTRALIA IN PEACE AND WAR is the first work to trace the development of Australia's external relations from their colonial origins to the present. It shows how successive Australian governments have seen the world, what their attitudes have been, their actions and (much more often) their reactions. This important and controversial book details the successes and failures of Australian foreign policy over two centuries. It shows how geographical aspects of the world's largest island, anchored off the south-east corner of Asia, have increasingly impinged on perceptions and attitudes historically derived from Europe. It pleads for recognition that Australia can adapt the best of its European traditions in coming to terms with and helping to shape its Asia-Pacific environment.