Editor's note
Australia has regularly been forced to come to terms with the Asia Pacific, whether from Japan’s 1942 bombing of Darwin or when Britain, the mother country, announced its withdrawal from all deployments “East of Suez” in 1968.
With the region’s economic importance growing, and China rising as a challenger to our more recent protector, the United States, further adjustment is ahead.This year, Prime Minister Gillard commissioned the Asian Century White Paper, President Obama came and announced 2,500 U.S. Marines will be rotated annually through bases in Darwin, and Defense Minister Stephen Smith agreed to stage regular naval exercises with South Korea - evidence of Australia’s determination to find its place in a changing region.
Several articles in this edition of Quarterly Access address new developments in the Asia Pacific. Thom Woodrofe and Kevin Placek examine America’s role in the region’s multilateral institutions. Kristian Lewis and Olivia Cable present interviews discussing our near neighbours, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Martin Dickens’ travel article provides a first-hand insight into China’s modernization.
Also in this issue, Charlotte Nicol analyses the role of women in conflict resolution, an increasingly prominent issue in the context of the Arab Spring and resulting conflicts. For a lighter finish, Wilf Finn describes his cycling travels along the Danube.
Andrew Zammit
Back to Quarterly Access Summer 2012 (Vol4 Issue1)
Download full issue in pdf:
QA Vol4 Issue1 (Summer) (3.17 MB) (3.18 MB)
Quarterly Access V4 Iss1
- Editor's note
- Letters to the editor
- Is the East Asia Summit Rudd’s gift to the world?
- Q&A with Jose Belo
- China: a world of difference
- The San Francisco System: declining relevance or renewed importance?
- Q&A with Samah Hadid
- Women’s participation in peace processes: a critical analysis
- Cycling the Danube
