{"id":139247,"date":"2024-07-26T23:14:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T23:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=139247"},"modified":"2024-07-26T23:14:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T23:14:23","slug":"is-australia-a-middle-power-by-arundathie-abeysinghe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/is-australia-a-middle-power-by-arundathie-abeysinghe\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Australia, a middle power? – By Arundathie Abeysinghe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Australia, a middle power? – <\/strong>By Arundathie Abeysinghe<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Australia-eLanka\"<\/p>\n

\"Arundathie\u201cI 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.\u201d – Dino Patti Djalal, Founder, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI))<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019 founding in the aftermath of the World War II.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

As middle powers are influential states, they could be instrumental in forming a new multilateralism to help solve global challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s unique relationship with the United States, based on the two countries\u2019 military ties, as a few US allies, including Australia are ideologically integrated into US security networks. This ideological aspect underpins Australia\u2019s middle power status in regional as well as global affairs. Australia\u2019s relationship with the US remains a significant element of understanding its goals as a rising middle power. \u00a0By 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Australia is consistently considered a middle power with a strong pledge for pursuing multilateral and cooperative solutions to global as well as regional issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout history, Australia\u2019s \u201c*tyranny of distance\u201d 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 \u201cgreat and powerful friends\u201d to ensure its defence and security.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since early 1980s, Australia was considered as a strategic moat, a buttress of congested waterways, including densely populated archipelagos in the \u201csea-air gap\u201d to the north and northwest, that has formed the backbone of Australia\u2019s defence as well as national security policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since late 1990s, Australia is also considered as a regional power, due to its significant commercial as well as diplomatic relations in the Asia\u2013Pacific region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Australia has two abiding interests; a security interest affiliated with the west and an economic interest linked with the east.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

At present, some middle powers such as India are rising in stature, and can be described as an emerging major power.<\/span><\/p>\n