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Focuses on the reasons of Australia's continuous engagement and interest in Asia. Overview of Australia's foreign relations with Asian countries; Impact of Australian intervention in East Timor crisis in 1999; Challenges for the economic recovery of the region; Reaffirmation of the country's commitment to Asia.

Focuses on the record which the Prime Minster of Australia, John Howard, says his government has with Asia. What the Howard government may be guilty of; Definition of the black armband history by Howard; Information on the 1957 Australia-Japan Trade Agreement.

The article focuses on the formation of a framework for security in the Asia Pacific. According to the author, setting the basic framework for a rudimentary Asian community calls for a clear understanding of the character of change in the security structures beyond the Cold War. He added that economics have been the weak sister and often the absent partner in the U.S. national security policymaking process during the Cold War. Moreover, the character of the U.S.-Japan alliance can be a major factor in regional security. He emphasized that tension between the demands of continuity and change in building a post-Cold War security structure can also become a major issue in meeting the needs of regional security.

The article discusses the former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser's foreign policy measures adopted during his ministerial term. Topics discussed include the four components of his foreign policy concerns which included Western alliance, regionalism, and Commonwealth; his political consensus towards Asia in particular China and his belief that the Commonwealth is a bridge to serve Australian interests.

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The article responds to the article "Menzies' Asia Policy and the Anachronistic Fallacy" by David Martin Jones and Andrea Benvenuti in volume 66, number 2 of the periodical "Australian Journal of International Affairs." The author claims that this article wrongly accuses historians of inaccurately assessing the foreign policy of former Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Topics include assessments of the nonaligned movement, the purportedly militarised policy of Menzies toward Asian nations, and problems in developing economic relations with Asian nations. The author finds such views earlier than the original article had implied they were present.

Australian foreign and strategic policy has not yet begun to address the implications for Australia's international situation of China's growing power. China today already challenges the American leadership that has kept Asia peaceful and Australia secure for many decades. There are real and growing risks that Washington and Beijing will not find a way to work together peacefully as relative power shifts from one to the other. Unless they do, Asia's future is bleak, and so is Australia's. Australia therefore needs to work to promote a new order in Asia which accommodates China's power without conceding more than is necessary to keep the peace. This will mean encouraging America to forgo primacy in Asia in favour of working with China and others in a shared regional leadership. Australia also needs to start preparing for the possibility that Asia will nonetheless become a more contested and dangerous place over coming decades, and consider what its options would be. None of them appear attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January and March 2008, Taiwan's citizens voted primarily for domestic political reasons to oust the Democratic Progressive Party administration and promulgate the second peaceful transfer of power in Taiwan's relatively young democracy. Surveys suggest that the new administration of President Ma Ying-jeou in its first few months in office has failed to meet voter expectations. Taiwan's new international relations with the United States, Japan and China have also raised concerns both within Taiwan and overseas. [image omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia in 2006 reaffirmed its close relationship with the United States while deepening engagement with other major power partners, with further agreements concluded with China, cooperation extended with Japan, and the profile of ties with India enhanced. Australia continued to navigate through the sometimes sensitive relations among the major powers, amid additional pressures arising from North Korea's nuclear test. Tensions with Indonesia were followed by a new security agreement, though increased confidence was needed in the relationship at both official and public levels. Internal disorder in several southwest Pacific states challenged Australia's capacities to provide effective short and medium term responses. Involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, with the latter situation particularly problematic. Growing demand for energy in the Asia-Pacific region directed further attention towards Australia's uranium resources, as climate change issues assumed a higher profile in domestic debate and multilateral activities.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to its relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), Australia's relations with Taiwan are often underrated. As a substantial trading partner and as a polity that has transformed into a robust 'Asian democracy', Taiwan constitutes a significant if highly complex dimension of evolving Australian foreign policy. A workshop was convened at the Australian National University in early May 2007 to consider the evolving geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural dimensions of bilateral relations between these two regional actors. Among the basic themes emerging from workshop deliberations were how the growth of Chinese power would effect stability in the Taiwan Straits and throughout maritime Asia; how Chinese power would shape future order-building in the region and any role that Australia and/or Taiwan might play in that process; how Taiwanese democracy would factor into any future regional order and what Australia's future Taiwan posture should be given that that country is committed to a 'one China policy' acknowledging the PRC as China. Among the conclusions reached were that Australia must intensify its diplomatic efforts toward both Beijing and Washington to ensure that potential Sino-American differences over Taiwan do not escalate into military conflict and that time and generational change may work to facilitate a peaceful solution to this protracted security dilemma*. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the impact of Cold War on the Asia-Pacific security environment and the issue of international order in the region. Tension across the Taiwan straits and on the Korean peninsula; Responses of regional governments to the issue; Pragmatic policies of few Asian countries.

Focuses on the San Francisco alliance system and the U.S. international policy for Asia Pacific region. Military and economic advantage of the policy for the U.S. in the region; Changes in the U.S. strategy and circumstances in the region; Impact of end of the Cold War on future of the system.

Investigates the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade's cultural relations strategies to improve its image in Asia. Bilateral foundation model; Australia's commercial imperative; Australia's television diplomacy in Asia.

Explores how the ideal of `white Australia' and its perception of Asia as the alien other have been discarded and replaced by the notion of multicultural society and as an integral part of Asia. History of the `white Australia'; `White Australia' as foundation policy; Western presence in Cold War Asia; Australia's constructive engagement with Asia; Multiculturalism movement in Australia.

The article focuses on the vision of the U.S. President Bill Clinton and the Asian Security toward multilateralism. It is noted that foreign policy issues are not seen as basis for mobilizing domestic support since the president was elected with only 43 percent of the popular vote. The capacity for military action by the region's members grows even with American forces in Asia. The U.S. tried to provide its allies strategic reassurance that can project military power to all parts of Asia. In fact, the U.S.-Japan relationship is considered as the most significant bilateral linkage in the Pacific.