The release of Australia’s new Foreign Policy White Paper last week has provided a solid signal as to how Australia sees itself approaching the world in the forthcoming decades. The paper aims to defend the liberal values that have served the country well, and seeks to negotiate the evolving regional power balance by desiring that change develops within a stable, agreed upon, open and cooperative architecture.
Importantly, the paper dedicated a chapter to Australia’s role within the Pacific (grouping Timor-Leste in alongside the conventional Oceania region). As the dominant actor in the Oceania region, this is where Australia can best exert its influence to maintain a liberal international order. Greater engagement in the region to provide “support for a more resilient Pacific and Timor-Leste” is deemed an “essential component of Australia’s continued security and prosperity.”
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Source: The Diplomat