Listen to ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly’s interview with Allan Behm from the Australia Institute about strategies we need if we are to safely navigate a changing world order.
In this interview
Bronwyn and Allan consider some critical questions about Australia’s current and possible future alliances with other powerful countries, including:
Does Australia need the American alliance?
If so, why and for what purpose?
If the Australia-US alliance is primarily a military one, is that in Australia’s interests?
Can we change the character of the alliance to better protect the interests of Australia and Australians?
What should we do in our diplomacy with the US to pursue Australia’s interests?
If it is essential to Australia that the US does not veer into autocracy, is there a path to restoring America’s democracy?
What must we do at home to build the sort of national character we need to be able to project if we are to increase our chances of protecting our interests in a multipolar world?
How do we manage the alliance so that it benefits both Australia and the US?
What other sorts of relationships should we build with the wider world?
Allan’s responses to these and other questions are a font wisdom. He explores how Australia can develop the quality of its diplomacy so that we can turn our power into agency and improve our relationships with all countries, not just the US. He also expands on how we can re-focus the Australia-US alliance to protect and promote the interests of Australians and Americans alike.
Alliances are about how you do things together, not how you beat common enemies together.
Allan Behm
Constitutional reform - a prerequisite for peace and security
It is interesting in this interview to hear Allan say that one of the things Australia needs if we are to increase our agency with other countries is a bill of rights and other types of constitutional reform. ACFP is pursuing strategies for constitutional reform. Find out how this will enhance Australia’s international standing and our independence, sovereignty and democracy in this essay by ACFP’s Founder, Bronwyn Kelly: Saving Australian democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution.
Find out about ACFP’s program for a National Collaborative Process for development of The Australian People's Constitution.
Where are the strategies in Australia Together for peace and security?
In Issue No. 8 of Australia Together the current strategies related to peace and security can be found mainly in Chapter 8, Governance 12 - Peace & Security. High priority strategies can be found under map reference numbers:
Gov12.01.04 - Championship of peace at home and abroad.
Gov12.01.05 - Planning for transition to peaceful cooperation for economic prosperity in a multipolar world.
Gov12.02 - Arms control - Prohibition of weapons exports.
Gov12.02.01 - Ratification of and conformance with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Gov12.03 - Prohibition of funding of public institutions and officials by foreign owned or domestically owned/operated arms dealers or manufacturers.
Gov12.04 - Integrated Strategy for Defence, Diplomacy and Security.
Gov12.04.01 - Green Paper and community engagement to define Australia’s Strategic Interests in Territorial Sovereign Defence.
Gov12.04.02 - Adoption of a legally binding commitment to neutrality for Australia in international confrontations between major powers (such as the USA, China and Russia).
Gov12.04.03 - National plan for safe withdrawal from activities, agreements and alliances inhibiting sovereign independence and peace.
Gov12.06 - Constitutional reform – Parliamentary supremacy in decisions on entry into war.
Based on Allan Behm’s advice there are aspects of our culture and identity that are holding us back from turning our power into agency, such as streaks of racism, misogyny, denial of the faults of the nation’s founding, our lack of confidence and reticence in self-affirmation, and our insecurity about our ability to defend Australia independently.
Australia Together integrates the strategies we need to address these fears and insecurities so that we might increase our influence with other powerful countries and focus less on imagined threats and more on what we can do together. To make a suggestion about strategies in Australia Together, visit the ACFP website at https://www.austcfp.com.au/make-a-suggestion.
Want to know more about Australia Together?
Australia Together is the nation’s first community designed and driven long term, integrated plan for a better future. It’s designed to help Australians make the best future we can imagine in the 2020s a reality by 2050 or sooner.
Browse the latest Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - here.
Want to become involved in Australia Together?
Become involved in the process of building Australia Together, the nation’s first long term, integrated plan for a better future.
Comment and provide suggestions about Australia Together here and here.
Share this post