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The Australia-United States Alliance and the Management of Elite Opinion

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The Australia-United States Alliance and the Management of Elite Opinion The Australia-United States Alliance and the Management of Elite Opinion An Institutional Analysis of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue by Vince Scappatura, B.A. DipEd; M.A. IR Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University 21 June, 2016 List of Publications Vince Scappatura, The Role of the AALD in Preserving the Australia-US Alliance, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 49, no. 4, 2014, pp. 596-610, <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2014.966054>, accessed 5 April 2016. Vince Scappatura, The US “Pivot” to Asia, the China Spectre and the Australian- American Alliance, The Asia-Pacific Journal, vol. 12, issue 36, no. 3, 9 September 2014, <http://apjjf.org/2014/12/36/Vince-Scappatura/4178/article.html>, accessed 5 April 2016. Vince Scappatura, L’Australie, Pièce Central Du << Pivot >> Amèricain, Le Monde Diplomatique, Poudrières Asiatiques, 139, Fèvrier – Mars, 2015, pp. 60-63, <https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/mav/139/SCAPPATURA/52574>, accessed 5 April 2016. iii Table of Contents Table of Figures ................................................................................................... vi Table of Abbreviations ........................................................................................ vii Abstract ............................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 Understanding Australia’s Alliance-Reliance Mentality ........................................... 1 Australia and the British Imperial Order in Asia ....................................................... 5 US Hegemony and Australia’s “Middle Power” Ambitions ...................................... 8 The AALD and the Management of Elite Opinion .................................................. 11 Thesis Objectives, Structure and Contribution ...................................................... 19 PART I: THE AUSTRALIA-US ALLIANCE CHAPTER ONE: Myth and Reality in Australia’s “Special Relationship” with the US ................................................................................................................ 22 Challenging the Myth of the “Special Relationship” .............................................. 22 Preserving American Hegemony at All Costs ......................................................... 35 CHAPTER TWO: Australian Strategic Culture ........................................................ 49 Race Fears, Dependence and Militarism ................................................................ 49 The Political Economy of Australia’s Alliance-Reliance Mentality ......................... 55 Australia’s “Imperialist Spirit” and “Middle Power” Ambitions ............................. 58 CHAPTER THREE: The Australia-US Alliance and Defending the Imperial Order in Asia ...................................................................................................... 64 Threat Perceptions in the 1950s and 1960s ........................................................... 64 Strategic Dependence ............................................................................................ 70 Defending the Imperial Order in Asia ..................................................................... 75 CHAPTER FOUR: The Australia-US Alliance: from Strategic Dependence to Independent “Middle Power” ............................................................................. 83 Threat Perceptions from the 1970s ....................................................................... 83 Self-Reliance and Australia’s Expansionist Defence Policy .................................... 92 The Australia-US Alliance and Australia’s “Middle Power” Ambitions ................ 100 iv PART II: THE AUSTRALIAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE CHAPTER FIVE: Preserving the Status Quo ......................................................... 109 Origins ................................................................................................................... 109 Operation, Objectives and Success ...................................................................... 115 Preserving the Orthodoxy .................................................................................... 125 Corporate Influence.............................................................................................. 129 CHAPTER SIX: Conceptualising the AALD: T2 Diplomacy or Pro-American Lobby Group? ................................................................................................... 144 Conceptualising the AALD .................................................................................... 144 Purposes, Benefits and Shortcomings of T2 Diplomacy ....................................... 147 The AALD: Framing Discussion and Debate ......................................................... 154 CHAPTER SEVEN: Alliance Management and the Socialisation of Elites .............. 169 Socialisation, Cooption and Propaganda.............................................................. 169 Deepening Support for the Status Quo ................................................................ 179 Socialisation and the Successor Generation ........................................................ 183 Gatekeeping ......................................................................................................... 193 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 205 The Australia-US Alliance: Who Benefits? ............................................................ 205 Managing Elite Opinion ........................................................................................ 210 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................. 219 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 281 Appendix A: AALD Participants List, 1993-2011 (Unofficial) ................................ 281 Appendix B: Inaugural AALD, Washington, 1993 (Various Photos) ..................... 289 Appendix C: George H. W. Bush and Bob Hawke, with Mel Sembler, White House, 27 June 1989 .................................................................................. 291 v Table of Figures Figure 1: Percentage of All Delegates by Occupation (1993-2011) ....................... 117 Figure 2: Breakdown of Australian Delegates by Occupation (1993-2011) .......... 117 Figure 3: Total Fiscal Year Contributions ................................................................ 135 Figure 4 : American Australian Education Leadership Foundation Contributors ............................................................................................................. 136 Figure 5: Australian American Education Leadership Foundation Contributors ............................................................................................................. 136 vi Table of Abbreviations A2/AD Anti-Access/Area-Denial AALD Australian American Leadership Dialogue ACRI Australia-China Relations Institute ADF Australian Defence Force AILF Australia Israel Leadership Forum ALP Australian Labor Party ANZAM Anglo, New Zealand, Australia, Malaya Area ANZUS Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASIC Australian Security and Investments Commission ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ASIS Australian Secret Intelligence Service ASPI Australian Strategic Policy Institute AUSFTA Australia United States Free Trade Agreement AUSMIN Australia United States Ministerial Consultations AWD Air-Warfare Destroyer AWU Australian Workers Unions CPI Committee on Public Information CSIS Centre for Strategic and International Studies DOA Defence of Australia DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea IMF International Monetary Fund IRS Internal Revenue Service ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria IVLP International Visitor Leadership Program IVP International Visitor Program JAM-GC Joint Concept for Access and Manoeuvre in the Global Commons vii LHD Landing Helicopter Dock NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NIC Newly Industrialised Country PRC People’s Republic of China SCAP Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation T1 Track One Diplomacy T2 Track Two/Second Track Diplomacy T3 Track Three Diplomacy ToDs Tracks of Diplomacy UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research USIA United States Information Agency USSC United States Studies Centre WWI World War I WWII World War II YLD Young Leadership Dialogue viii Abstract This thesis has two main objectives. The first is to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy that holds the Australia-US alliance is a “special relationship” driven by mutual security interests and shared values. Traditional security anxieties and common cultural influences continue to drive the relationship. However, this thesis argues that support for the current alliance at the elite level primarily derives from the desire to sustain western control over regional and international affairs and extend Australia’s influence abroad. The second objective is to provide the first comprehensive critical analysis of the role of the AALD in preserving alliance orthodoxy in Australia.
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