australia-us security relationships in the post cold war years

Analyse Post-cold War changes in the US-Australian security relationship and the relevance of the security alliance in the 21st century.


This essay is concerned about the post-cold war changes in the US-Australian security relationship and the relevance of the security alliance in the 21st century.
Before we have an analysis of the post-cold war changes in the US-Australian security relationship, we first have a short insight at the historical origins of the American-Australian security alliance. It is a well-known fact that Australia traditionally relied on Britain for protection. However, the Japanese aggression during the Second World War and the failure of Britain of keeping its promises compelled Australia to seek the protection of the United States instead. The latter emerged victorious from the war and also as a superpower. Smith, Cox and Burchill (1996,p.54) argued that " the catalyst for Australia's pursuit of a United States alliance was Japan's… defea...