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The awkwardness of Australian engagement with Asia : the dilemmas of Australian idea of regionalism

journal contribution
posted on 2011-08-01, 00:00 authored by Baogang HeBaogang He
Australia has experienced difficulties engaging with Asia-Pacific regional integration. Despite Australian attempts to punch above its weight in regional forums and to be a regional leader, it is still not regarded as a full member or as quite fitting into the region. It is an ‘awkward partner’ in the Asian context, and has experienced the ‘liminality’ of being neither here nor there. The former Rudd government’s proposal for an ‘Asia Pacific Community’ (APC) by the year 2020 was a substantive initiative in Australia’s ongoing engagement with Asia. It has, however, attracted a high level of criticism both at home and abroad. The main critical analysis of the proposal has focused on institutional building or architecture, or its relationship with existing regional institutions, but overlooks a host of often fraught questions about culture,
norms, identities, and international power relations. The APC concept needs to be scrutinized in terms of these questions with a critical eye. This paper examines the cultural, cognitive, and normative dimensions of Rudd’s proposal. It analyses four dilemmas or awkward problems that the APC faces.

History

Journal

Japanese journal of political science

Volume

12

Issue

2

Pagination

267 - 285

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Location

Cambridge, England

ISSN

1468-1099

eISSN

1474-0060

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2011, Cambridge University Press

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