Is Australia, a middle power? – By Arundathie Abeysinghe
“I think in the 21st century, the world order will be shaped not by the great powers or major powers but by the proliferation of middle powers.” – Dino Patti Djalal, Founder, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI))
The United Nations Council, the premier global body for maintaining international peace and security has five permanent members, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, collectively known as the P5. Any member can veto a resolution and has privileged status. P5 has its roots in the United Nations’ founding in the aftermath of the World War II.
These countries with a permanent seat in the UN Security Council are considered as great powers and they exert political, economic and military dominance, globally.
Middle powers play a vital and growing role in international relations. These states are considered as those which are secondary rather than primary players, yet, they exert influence over global politics and those with extensive multilateral, diplomatic, economic, and at times with military clout. These states play a significant role in international relations and comprise Global North countries which include Australia, Canada and South Korea, whereas, Global South countries include Argentina, Brazil, India and Indonesia.
As middle powers are influential states, they could be instrumental in forming a new multilateralism to help solve global challenges.
Australia is a significant and an influential actor across the Indo-Pacific region, a key ally of the United States, the cornerstone of its strategic policy. The *ANZUS Treaty is considered as Australia’s unique relationship with the United States, based on the two countries’ military ties, as a few US allies, including Australia are ideologically integrated into US security networks. This ideological aspect underpins Australia’s middle power status in regional as well as global affairs. Australia’s relationship with the US remains a significant element of understanding its goals as a rising middle power. By establishing closer foreign and defence relationships with major actors in the region, especially, Singapore, Japan, India and Indonesia, Australia can assume a substantial strategic, foreign policy and defence role.
Australia is consistently considered a middle power with a strong pledge for pursuing multilateral and cooperative solutions to global as well as regional issues.
Throughout history, Australia’s “*tyranny of distance” isolated it from the traditional center of global issues in Europe and North America. Yet, its isolation has protected it from insecurity posed by the threat of great power conflicts, although, it has formed its strategic culture regarding a reliance on “great and powerful friends” to ensure its defence and security.
Since early 1980s, Australia was considered as a strategic moat, a buttress of congested waterways, including densely populated archipelagos in the “sea-air gap” to the north and northwest, that has formed the backbone of Australia’s defence as well as national security policy.
Since late 1990s, Australia is also considered as a regional power, due to its significant commercial as well as diplomatic relations in the Asia–Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Australia has two abiding interests; a security interest affiliated with the west and an economic interest linked with the east.
In the meantime, there are emerging alignments between middle powers in the Global South and those in the West, such as Australia and India, that are considered as significant geopolitical developments.
At present, some middle powers such as India are rising in stature, and can be described as an emerging major power.
- ANZUS Treaty – A Security Treaty signed on September 1, 1951 to ensure peace and safety in the Pacific region, between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America (ANZUS). The Treaty has been in operation for over 60 years. The Treaty recognized that an armed attack in the Pacific region on one member would endanger the peace and safety of the others.
- The Tyranny of Distance – An Australian classic by Geoffrey Blainey (originally published in 1966 and continuously in print, since 1967) which describes, how distance will continue to form its future. ‘The Tyranny of Distance’ is one the significant books ever written about Australia that sheds light on diverse aspects of Australia’s history as well as culture, including the reasons for its founding.
