Critical Analysis Malcolm Fraser

There are serious and critical discussions taking place in Australia about the legitimacy of the U.S.-Australian geopolitical alliance. Back in 2014, I had the chance to speak with the former Liberal Party prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser. At the time, Fraser just published his book, Dangerous Allies, a scathing critique of Australia's foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and its historical relationship with the British Empire.

According to Fraser:

Australia has always been reliant on ‘great and powerful friends' for its sense of national security and for direction on its foreign policy—first on the British Empire and now on the United States. Australia has actively pursued a policy of strategic dependence, believing that

Just today, I watched an interview with another former prime minister of Australia, Paul Keating of the Labor Party. Keating, echoing Fraser's concerns, insists that Australia shouldn't follow the U.S. into anymore ill-advised and criminal wars.

Furthermore, Keating notes that the West has created Vladimir Putin by pushing NATO's boundaries to the Kremlin's doorsteps. Instead of viewing Russia as a potential partner in European affairs, Keating argues that NATO's expansionism has been overwhelmingly responsible for the Cold War 2.0. Today, we're seeing what the new Cold War looks like in Ukraine and Syria: scorched bodies, devastated landscapes and increasing instability throughout the world.

Australia finds itself in the interesting position of being economically tied to China, while being militarily aligned with the U.S. and its European allies. Undoubtedly, these contradictory relationships have created much tension. However, Keating was very clear during his interview with ABC host Kerry O'Brien: China's power will continue to grow, particularly in the South Pacific. As a result, the U.S. will be forced to capitulate to a new world order, a bipolar, or unipolar world, with Russia and various other powers extending their economic and military

In the land of Hollywood and guns, it's taken for granted that our allies abroad will continue to behave as Uncle Sam's lapdogs. But that's no longer the case. Governments around the world are questioning their relationships with the U.S. Empire, with the understanding that China's rise has, and will continue to challenge America's hegemony.

There's also a domestic component to this equation, as Australia experiences ongoing demographic shifts. John West, Executive Director of the Asian Century Institute, notes that:

Asian Australians now make up some 12% of the nation's population, with Chinese Australians being the leading group. Indeed, by end-June 2011, there were 391 060 Chinese-born people were living in Australia, 51 per cent more than five years earlier.

China now has the third largest migrant community in Australia, after the UK and New Zealand, representing 6.5 per cent of Australia’s overseas-born population and 1.8 per cent of its total population. In the year 2011-12, China was the second largest provider of permanent migrants to Australia. Some 185 000 China-born people work in Australia as professionals (24 per cent), technicians and trades workers (14 per cent) and clerical and administrative workers (14 per