Abstract
While attention has been devoted to the consequences of the US rebalance to Asia, Australia has sought to define its own regional pivot. Along with Japan, China and Indonesia are the most important countries in Asia for economic ties and security considerations. The embassy in Jakarta has become the single biggest overseas post. Australia needs to guard against a tendency to exaggerate its influence in regional capitals, something the Rudd government found out the hard way when its Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation initiative imploded. Maintaining productive relations with Jakarta is arguably the toughest foreign policy challenge. No other bilateral relationship is subject to as many roundabouts. “More Jakarta” is no doubt a good thing if the quality of engagement is at least as positive as the quantity.
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Notes
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O’Neil, A. (2018). Less Geneva, More Jakarta: Assessing Australia’s Asia Pivot. In: Rozman, G., Liow, J. (eds) International Relations and Asia’s Southern Tier. Asan-Palgrave Macmillan Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3171-7_17
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