Poirot,

Very nice article, thanks,

Sort of similar sentiment to what i wrote in 2008 on OLO when i argued that the current cricis was not surprising given the difficulty of finding a perfect solution for international realtions or the internaitonal economy.

I wrote "Though the 2008 financial crisis is likely to promote greater government regulation and perhaps much greater public spending in time, this unfortunate situation is merely part of the ongoing and extremely difficult struggle of nations seeking to balance national and international considerations via freer trade.

As the recent financial crisis indicates, no group of nations (and their associated ideas) have ever proved capable of ensuring certainty and prosperity for the entire world".

I also like the last paragraph of the article you sent. Nobody, whether from the left or right, can dismiss hard facts about adverse trends. I just hope that Australia avoids turning in on itself as we make the necessary reform.

kulu,

"..detach ourselves from the very obviously not shining angel, the US."

Interesting; and who do you suggest we should then attach ourselves to, as the 'little brother'? Indonesia perhaps? Or should we, all 23.5 million of us, gear up to go it alone, and make a brave new world? (It might well be different if we were even 100 million, but alas.)

The US isn't perfect and has made a lot of mistakes, and I agree that we shouldn't follow them blindly, but we are a small fish in a very big and angry sea, so we need to hang on to powerful friends if we wish to ensure our freedom. You may disagree of course, but there are times when even a fallible (and possibly unscrupulous) friend is far better than no friend at all. (And we even share a common language.)

What loyalty does the WW2 Battle of the Coral Sea deserve, do you think?

David G,

"We live in an area of the world where the U.S. doesn't belong. We need to develop friends not create enemies!"

The US doesn't belong? That's a novel thought - particularly when our government has given approval for an expansion of the US presence on our territory. If the US is such a poor friend, who would you suggest? China?

Security is all about Intelligence and Preparedness. If we didn't have some powerful friends, who do you really think would take us seriously? In anything.

Saltpetre,

There are a number of nations not attached to any major power and they seem to do alright, absent US intervention. We can be one of those. We don't actually have to try and create an enemy of the US although they seem to do their best to create them for themselves God knows why.

Whatever America did for us in the Battle of the Coral Sea should be appreciated but its a long, long time ago and not relevant today. Today it is abundantly clear that it is intent on dominating the globe and its resources and is pursuing this goal with such myopic fervour that it's neglecting its own people and ruining its economy by wasting enormous amounts on the military industrial complex.

On top of this I belief society should strive to achieve socially just and environmentally sustainable outcomes and not domination the worlds resources in a win lose scenario. Neither goal is attainable anyhow.

“What loyalty does the WW2 Battle of the Coral Sea deserve, do you think?”

Well if we are going to go that far back, I seem to remember that Russia was an ally at that stage of the game and we could not do enough for them.

Looking far off into the future, what are the prospects for Aus?

i) A dessicated treeless dust bowl with a tiny green tinge around the edges where a still tiny population huddles in highrise apartments gasping for breath, as adjacent industry continues to run on coal-fired electricity, producing a new line of widgets (and possibly with English as an optional second language); or

ii) A green continent, a massive food bowl, dotted with massive solar powered generators, each at the centre of a satellite city based on greenhouse agriculture and high-tech industries, desalinating sea water pumped from the coast and recycling everything - water, waste - with manageable population growth aligned with sustainable capacity, and exporting organically grown food, and bio-fuel based on algae, to Europe, UK and US, and maybe even to China and Russia?

How we get to one of those potential futures is up to us, to what we decide today and tomorrow. Ditching our current close alliances might still get us to the far more attractive second option (or similar), but almost assuredly with another nation pulling the strings and controlling everything.

As China continues on its path towards self-sufficiency based on investments in Africa, South America and segments of the Pacific Basin (including in Aus), and develops stronger ties with both Russia and the Middle East, AND continues to produce widgets faster and cheaper than we ever could, where do we want to see ourselves in the distant global landscape? A pawn, or a player? A patchwork of holes in the ground feeding a string of ships heading for far-off ports and a puzzled look on our faces when only rock is left? Or a smart Lucky Country working with like-minded nations to build a better and sustainable world?

Bring on world peace and universal sustainability, but in a manner in which we are a full participant and not left out in the cold.