Australia's Indo-Pacific Strategy: From Optimism to Hard Balancing

IF 1.3
N. Bisley
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Abstract

A ustralia was one of the earliest adopters of the Indo-Pacific construct. First emerging in official documents in 2012, the construct by 2017 had become the central geographic concept organizing the country’s international engagement. During this time, Canberra’s mood toward the region shifted decisively. In the early 2010s, Australia remained optimistic about the region’s prospects, even as great-power rivalry resurfaced. Canberra thought that while the geopolitical landscape was going to become more difficult to navigate, stability and prosperity were likely to prevail. Ten years later, the country’s elites are much more pessimistic. Although Australia does not have a formal Indo-Pacific strategy, its approach to the region has moved away from hedging its bets concerning regional risks. In response to the growing power and increasingly assertive behavior of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as the rising influence of a set of policy thinkers who are very skeptical of the PRC, Australia hardened its rhetorical posture toward that country and has started to reorient its policy around hard balancing. Notwithstanding the policy consensus around this move—it has strong bipartisan support in the Australian Parliament, and the bureaucracy is of one mind in this regard—there remain significant challenges to its implementation. This essay will examine Australia’s strategic policy in the Indo-Pacific, analyze the dynamics surrounding this policy, and identify the tensions and challenges that Canberra faces in seeking to put a sharper edge on its approach to a region that is both its economic hope and the source of its greatest fears.
澳大利亚的印太战略:从乐观到硬平衡
澳大利亚是最早采用印太结构的国家之一。该建筑于2012年首次出现在官方文件中,到2017年已成为组织该国国际参与的核心地理概念。在此期间,堪培拉对该地区的态度发生了决定性的转变。2010年代初,即使大国竞争再次出现,澳大利亚仍对该地区的前景持乐观态度。堪培拉认为,尽管地缘政治格局将变得更加难以驾驭,但稳定和繁荣很可能会占上风。十年后,这个国家的精英们更加悲观。尽管澳大利亚没有正式的印太战略,但其对该地区的做法已不再对冲其对地区风险的押注。为了应对中华人民共和国日益强大的权力和日益自信的行为,以及一批对中国持怀疑态度的政策思想家日益增长的影响力,澳大利亚加强了对该国的措辞,并开始围绕硬平衡调整其政策。尽管围绕这一举措达成了政策共识——它在澳大利亚议会得到了两党的大力支持,而且官僚机构在这方面意见一致——但其实施仍面临重大挑战。本文将研究澳大利亚在印太地区的战略政策,分析围绕这一政策的动态,并确定堪培拉在寻求对一个既是其经济希望又是其最大恐惧来源的地区采取更尖锐的态度时所面临的紧张局势和挑战。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Asia Policy
Asia Policy Arts and Humanities-History
CiteScore
0.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
55
期刊介绍: Asia Policy is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal presenting policy-relevant academic research on the Asia-Pacific that draws clear and concise conclusions useful to today’s policymakers.
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