The Other Special Relationship: The United States and Australia at the Start of the 21st Century
Abstract
There is a wide canvas of issues to be explored, and all are of sustaining importance to the future of the alliance. The ANZUS Treaty was formally entered into by the three signatories more than half a century ago. In that time, our relationship with the United States has gone through may changes which largely have been unremarked upon as major refinements of the original conceptualization behind the treaty. The treaty document has not changed in 54 years, but it is propelled by a different engine; actually, it probably always was but our politicians were too wiley to tell us. From the start there was a significant difference of emphasis between the United States and Australia as to the thrust of the treaty. Australia emphasized guarantees of its regional protection by the United States, while the United States was preoccupied with containment of communism in which ANZUS was one link in a chain of global treaties and arrangements. This difference of preoccupation was the continuing cause of perplexity, perhaps even impatience, on the part of some U.S. officials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA462926
Entities
People
- Douglas T. Stuart
- Jeffrey D. Mccausland
- Michael Wesley
- William T. Tow
Organizations
- United States Army War College