Criticism and bibliography. Reviews

(Anniversary issue of the Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 55. 2001. N 2)

On September 1, 1951, Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed the ANZUS Security Treaty in San Francisco, aimed primarily at curbing "communist expansion" in the Asia-Pacific region (APR). For more than 50 years of its existence, ANZUS has experienced internal upheaval (New Zealand suspended its participation in it in 1986) and has been adapted to the changing conditions in the post-Cold War world (the treaty was revised twice, in 1986 and 1996). Currently, ANZUS is a bilateral agreement between Australia and the United States. It has served as a foundation for the development of Australian-American cooperation both in the field of defense and security of the two countries, as well as in the political sphere, in the field of trade and investment, culture and education, environmental protection and regional issues. Relations between states are developing not only at the highest level, but also at the" organizational " (sercive-to-service) and "interpersonal" (people-to - people) levels, including the exchange of experience, joint training, tourism development, etc., which undoubtedly contributes to the strengthening of Australian-American cooperation.

A special issue of the Australian Journal of International Affairs is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Australian-American Union. It contains articles on the relationship between the two countries from the point of view of the treaty's ability to overcome the difficulties of the XXI century. ANZUS remains a defence alliance, although there is no specific reference to this in its text. Strategically, it provides an American presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Since bilateral relations between countries are much broader than just a security treaty, this significantly complicates the management of the union, which in itself is a test of its viability and flexibility.

The structure of the collection is clearly thought out. The articles not only give an idea of the state of Australian-American relations in the main directions of their development, but also contain a short digression into the history of the union, show the role of Australia in the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, as well as in Southeast and Northeast Asia. The collection opens with introductory remarks by Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Downer and United States Ambassador to Australia E. Gnem, who express the views of Australian and American government circles on cooperation within the framework of ANZUS. The articles of other authors are selected in such a way that the reader can get acquainted not only with the positive assessment of the Australian-American union, but also with criticism of it, as well as a comprehensive assessment of the activities of the ruling parties of Australia and the United States related to the union, and the position of public opinion of the two countries on a number of issues affecting Australian-American cooperation.

The first article in the collection "ANZUS: the Alliance through American Eyes" takes us back to the time of the union's founding - 1940 - 1950-M. A. Edwards (editor of the Australian Journal of International Affairs) makes a historiographical analysis that gives an idea of the different approaches to the formation of the union and the conditions for concluding the ANZUS treaty between two politicians-the Prime Minister Australia J. Curtin and American General D. MacArthur.

The central figure of the article is D. Lowe (Dakin University, UK) "Percy Spender's Quest" - Australian Foreign Minister P. Spender, who negotiated the treaty. The author traces the development of P. Spender's ideas since 1937, evaluates his contribution to the preparation and signing of the treaty. The latter is represented by a visionary politician, albeit a bit disappointed by the status of the ANZUS treaty.

If P. Spender believed that favorable conditions would come for such "small" US allies as Australia, then M. Fraser (former Prime Minister of Australia) in the article "An Australian Critique" shows that such conditions are mostly fiction. He openly criticizes Australia's commitment to the ANZUS Treaty and the untimely course of the J. P. Morgan Government. M. Fraser points out the tendency of the United States to dissociate itself from regional conflicts if they do not directly involve American interests, as well as the desire to involve allies in solving issues of exceptional importance for America, but not for its partners. At the present time-

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At this stage, the author identifies two critical issues that the United States is more interested in solving than Australia; involvement in them can lead to the worst consequences for it. These are the US conflict with China over Taiwan and the US national missile defense program. In Fraser's view, Australia should maintain cooperation with the United States, but not depend on it, and to ensure its security, it is more profitable to develop close regional relations with the countries of Southeast Asia (SE) than to strengthen the ANZUS.

T. Inoguchi (University of Tokyo) in the article "A North-East Asian Perspective" compares the Australian-American and Japanese-American cooperation and comes to the conclusion that Australia and Japan are trying to strengthen their advantages by becoming more independent and autonomous within the allied relations. In addition, according to the author, Australia and Japan are more likely to achieve coexistence with China, Korea and the ASEAN countries through joint efforts.

D. Anwar (Director of the Habibi Research Center, Indonesia), in his article "A South-East Asian Perspective", takes a more skeptical view of Australian politics within the framework of ANZUS. To the Government of J. In her opinion, it is not necessary to force the strengthening of Australian-American relations so zealously, since Australia may lose its influence in Southeast Asia. The Australian Prime Minister's comparison of Australia with a "deputy sheriff"was met with considerable skepticism in Southeast Asia, as the ASEAN countries saw this as an attempt by Australia to rise above the countries of the region, to acquire special prerogatives to separate from Asia. As the author of the article notes, the "constructivist", "idealistic" approach to the security of the ASEAN countries cannot be combined with the policies of such unions as the ANZUS, which prioritize the military readiness of their members against potential opponents. Australia is left with a choice - to focus on the uniqueness of ANZUS and Australian-American ties, or to make more efforts to develop security and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, of which it is an integral part.

D. Ball (Australian National University) in his article "The Strategic Essence" argues that the" strategic essence " of the Australian-American treaty is the exchange of intelligence, access to high technologies and the latest weapons systems, which makes the existence of the union possible. He criticizes the US national missile defense program, although he admits that the strategic benefits of this program for Australia are obvious.

David Ravenhill (University of Edinburgh, UK) in his article "Allies but not friends: Economic Relationship" analyzes the Australian-American trade relations and identifies some elements that worsen them: asymmetry due to the difference in the size of the economies of the two countries, unbalanced trade turnover in favor of the United States, American restrictions on the import of a number of products whose supplier is Australia. The author comes to the conclusion that Australia and the United States are more competitors in the global market than partners. He also criticizes the free trade agreement, which the Australian government sees as a solution to the current problems. In his view, the Australian benefits of such an agreement will be limited. In general, D. Ravenhill does not see the need to preserve ANZUS for the country, since, with a small amount of spending from the American side to support joint facilities, Australia has to make huge expenses for the purchase of American equipment, although this could be done without an agreement. Moreover, the Australian government has never resorted to using " secret weapons "(joint facilities) to solve foreign economic problems.

In the article "Friends, Allies or Collaborators: Environmental Policy in the US-Australian Relationship" by L. Elliott (Deputy Editor). "Australian Journal of International Affairs") examines the development of Australian-American relations in another, no less important, aspect - environmental protection. Comparing the American policy in this area with the Australian one, the author comes to the conclusion that Australia does not pay enough attention to this problem, notes the commonality of Australian and American positions on environmental issues and some difference in the tactics of solving them.

G. Albinski (University of Pennsylvania, USA), author of the article "Cultural Reflections", makes an in-depth analysis of the main areas of cooperation between Australia and America through the prism of the international community.-

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social perception. It gives a picture of their relations in general, as well as the dynamics of the development of cultural ties between the two countries.

The Australian public's perception of ANZUS was also reflected in the joint article " ANZUS? ANZ who? " by H. Stott-Dispoggi (South Australian State Senator) and E. Barletta (Queensland State Senator). The article concerns the opinion of the younger generation of Australians - from 15 to 35 years old-about the contract. The authors conducted an interesting study that revealed the "constructivist", anti-war position of young people, their lack of prejudice about the "Asian threat", fear of communism, and the desire to have such a super-powerful power as the United States as an ally.

The collection concludes with an article by K. Rudd (representative of the Australian Labor Party) "ANZUS and 21st Century", which examines the prospects for the existence of ANZUS and the issues of ensuring the national interests of Australia by the treaty. Touching upon the acute issue of political independence for the country, the author argues that in the treaty with the United States, Australia is not under pressure from a stronger ally and, if necessary, makes independent decisions. This point of view is also shared by official Australian circles, but the examples that confirm the equality of countries within the ANZUS are given by K. Rudd, beaten and few in number.

In general, the authors of the issue give a fairly comprehensive assessment of the broad scope of Australian-American relations within the framework of ANZUS, although, in my opinion, they pay little attention to political ties, which acquired a regular basis only in the 1980s, as well as relations in the field of culture and education of the two countries. However, this does not detract from the merits of the collection.

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