Good International Citizenship

Good International Citizenship PDF Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher: In the National Interest
ISBN: 9781922464972
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Why should we in Australia, or any country, care about poverty, human rights atrocities, health epidemics, environmental catastrophes, weapons proliferation or any other problems afflicting faraway countries, when they don't, as is often the case, have any direct or immediate impact on our own safety or prosperity? Gareth Evans' answer is the approach he adopted when Australia's foreign minister. He argues that to be, and be seen to be, a good international citizen -- a state that cares about other people's suffering, and does everything reasonably possible to alleviate it -- is both a moral imperative and a matter of hard-headed national interest. The case for decency in conducting our international relations is based both on the reality of our common humanity, and a national interest just as compelling as the traditional duo of security and prosperity. Four key benchmarks matter most in assessing any country's record as a good international citizen: its foreign aid generosity; its response to human rights violations; its reaction to conflict, mass atrocities, and the refugee flows that are so often their aftermath; and its contribution to addressing the global existential threats posed by climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Measured against them, Australia's overall record has been patchy at best, lamentable at worst, and is presently embarrassingly poor. The better news is that, on all available evidence, the problem lies not with the negative attitudes of our people, but our governments. Those in office might prefer Berthold Brecht's solution: 'dissolve the people and elect another.' But the right course for the rest of us is to persuade our political leaders, on both moral and national interest grounds, to change their ways, and to vote them out if they don't.

Good International Citizenship

Good International Citizenship PDF Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher: In the National Interest
ISBN: 9781922464972
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Why should we in Australia, or any country, care about poverty, human rights atrocities, health epidemics, environmental catastrophes, weapons proliferation or any other problems afflicting faraway countries, when they don't, as is often the case, have any direct or immediate impact on our own safety or prosperity? Gareth Evans' answer is the approach he adopted when Australia's foreign minister. He argues that to be, and be seen to be, a good international citizen -- a state that cares about other people's suffering, and does everything reasonably possible to alleviate it -- is both a moral imperative and a matter of hard-headed national interest. The case for decency in conducting our international relations is based both on the reality of our common humanity, and a national interest just as compelling as the traditional duo of security and prosperity. Four key benchmarks matter most in assessing any country's record as a good international citizen: its foreign aid generosity; its response to human rights violations; its reaction to conflict, mass atrocities, and the refugee flows that are so often their aftermath; and its contribution to addressing the global existential threats posed by climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Measured against them, Australia's overall record has been patchy at best, lamentable at worst, and is presently embarrassingly poor. The better news is that, on all available evidence, the problem lies not with the negative attitudes of our people, but our governments. Those in office might prefer Berthold Brecht's solution: 'dissolve the people and elect another.' But the right course for the rest of us is to persuade our political leaders, on both moral and national interest grounds, to change their ways, and to vote them out if they don't.

Australia as a Good International Citizen

Australia as a Good International Citizen PDF Author: Alison Pert
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781862879874
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
From time to time, politicians describe Australia as a "good international citizen". But what does this mean, exactly? What constitutes good international citizenship? And does Australia really qualify as a good international citizen? This book attempts to answer these questions.Very little has been written about good international citizenship. Most of the limited literature is by international relations scholars and practitioners and therefore naturally tends to focus on Australian foreign policy. Nobody has ventured a definition of the term, or even a list of qualities that a good international citizen should possess. This book therefore begins by proposing such a list, and identifies two particularly important elements: compliance with international law, and support for multilateralism.Using these elements as a yardstick, Dr Pert then seeks to measure Australia''s good international citizenship throughout its post-Federation history. Account is given of the shenanigans of Billy Hughes at the 1919 peace conference in Versailles (not a great example of good international citizenship); the forgotten contribution to international economic and social cooperation of Stanley Bruce in the late 1930s; "Doc" Evatt''s astonishing performance at San Francisco in 1945, where the United Nations Charter was negotiated, and his personal influence on the form the new world organisation was to take; the almost dormant Menzies years; the Whitlam revolution and re-engagement with the world; and the Fraser reaction. The analysis continues with the Hawke/Keating, Howard, and Rudd/Gillard governments.One of the main conclusions the book draws from this analysis is that states - whether Australia or others such as the archetypically "good" Scandinavian states - can be paragons of good international citizenship in one area (say, overseas aid) but the opposite in another (such as repulsion of asylum-seekers, or arms exports). Thus, it argues, "good international citizenship" is not a blanket term that can be applied to a state. Instead, a state can be a good international citizen in some areas, and quite the opposite in others. A full account of how Australia rates from this perspective is given from Federation to the demise of the second Rudd government in 2013.___________________________________________________________________Good International Citizenship: Values and Interests in Foreign PolicymakingAddress by Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC FASSA FAIIA to Sydney University Law School, 27 August 2015"[T]hat is about as far as I have taken the concept of good international citizenship in my own speeches and writings over the last three decades. But I am delighted to acknowledge, in her presence here this evening, that we now have a scholar, Sydney University''s Dr Alison Pert, who has taken the idea a good deal further in her book Australia as a Good International Citizen, published last year.Alison has done not only scholars but policymakers a great service in this book. For a start, she focuses far more concentrated attention than I ever did on defining the core idea of good international citizenship, and teasing out all its possible dimensions: not just support for multilateralism, and willingness to "pitch in" to international tasks, and doing "international good deeds", on which I have tended to focus, but also compliance with international law, and leadership in improving or raising international standards.Overall, the practical relevance of Alison Pert''s very scholarly work is that she gives our foreign policy makers, and those elsewhere, in effect a whole new set of talking points to use in persuading possibly reluctant domestic audiences that pursuing "purposes beyond ourselves" is not a fringe activity best left to missionaries and the naïve, but something that every state worth the name should be doing, by which it will be judged by the rest of the world, and by which its citizens will directly benefit if it gets it right." Read the full Speech...In the media...Australians at their best, Governor-General''s Boyer Lectures, ABC RN, Nov 2013 Read transcript or Listen to audio...

Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory

Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory PDF Author: Gabriele Abbondanza
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811603707
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
This book introduces the editors’ new concept of “Awkward Powers”. By undertaking a critical re-examination of the state of International Relations theorising on the changing nature of the global power hierarchy, it draws attention to a number of countries that fit awkwardly into existing but outdated categories such as “great power” and “middle power”. It argues that conceptual categories pertaining to the apex of the international hierarchy have become increasingly unsatisfactory, and that new approaches focusing on such “Awkward Powers” can both rectify shortcomings on power theorising whilst shining a much-needed theoretical spotlight on significant but understudied states. The book’s contributors examine a broad range of empirical case studies, including both established and rising powers across a global scale to illustrate our conceptual claims. Through such a novel process, we argue that a better appreciation of the de facto international power hierarchy in the 21st century can be achieved.

The Good International Citizen: Volume 3, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations

The Good International Citizen: Volume 3, The Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations PDF Author: David Horner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139992066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1021

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Book Description
Volume 3 of the official history of Australian peacekeeping, humanitarian and post-cold war operations explores Australia's involvement in six overseas missions following the end of the Gulf War: Cambodia (1991–99); Western Sahara (1991–94); the former Yugoslavia (1992–2004); Iraq (1991); Maritime Interception Force operations (1991–99); and the contribution to the inspection of weapons of mass destruction facilities in Iraq (1991–99). These missions reflected the increasing complexity of peacekeeping, as it overlapped with enforcement of sanctions, weapons inspections, humanitarian aid, election monitoring and peace enforcement. Granted full access to all relevant Australian Government records, David Horner and John Connor provide readers with a comprehensive and authoritative account of Australia's peacekeeping operations in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Australia and Nuclear Arms Control as "good International Citizenship"

Australia and Nuclear Arms Control as Author: Marianne Hanson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description


The Rise and Fall of One Nation

The Rise and Fall of One Nation PDF Author: Michael Leach
Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press
ISBN: 9780702231360
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Launched with the enthusiasm and support of many thousands of Australians, the One Nation party gave expression to the anger and disenchantment of voters drawn to Pauline Hanson's views on race, immigration and national identity. In this landmark study, scholars in political and social research bring into focus the character and origins of One Nation; its organisation and right-wing links; the unprecedented role of an influential minor party in state parliament; and its indelible impact upon Australian political life. In particular this timely new book analysis One Nation's electoral failure in the 1998 federal and the subsequent NSW elections, and its subsequent deregistration and investigation for fraud. There is a key chapter on Aboriginal Australia written from the Murri perspective, while other chapters offer up intriguing social commentary on the wider issues of an Australian political populism; national identity; and the impact of globalisation.

International Law in Australia

International Law in Australia PDF Author: Donald R. Rothwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780455228310
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
International Law in Australia is the third edition in a landmark series that since 1965 has tracked the development and significance of international law for Australia. With eminent contributors from academia, government and the profession, International Law in Australia provides an exhaustive and contemporary account of Australia¿s interactions with international law in the 21st century. The work divides into analysis of critical aspects of Australia¿s international law engagement with international organisations, treaty making, dispute resolution and the interaction of international law with Australian law. Consideration is also given to Australian state practice and engagement in traditional areas of international law such as law of the sea, international criminal law, international human rights, and international trade law, while areas of international legal practice and engagement particular to Australia such as international resources law, and Australia¿s external territories are also addressed. Australia¿s contributions to the development of international law in areas such as international humanitarian law, and international aviation law are also assessed. The book is essential reading for any international law student, scholar or practitioner seeking a contemporary understanding of Australian practice in and the significance international law holds for Australia.

Rethinking Australian Citizenship

Rethinking Australian Citizenship PDF Author: Wayne Hudson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521596701
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The notion of citizenship is now being taken up internationally as a way to rethink questions of social cohesion and social justice. In Europe the concept of national identity is under close scrutiny, while the pressures of globalizing markets and the power of transnational corporations everywhere raise questions about the true place and meaning of citizenship in civil society. In Australia, a traditional view of citizens belonging to a single nation made up of one people, with a special relationship to one land, has been thrown open to challenge by a range of differing perspectives. Rethinking Australian Citizenship considers the major debates. Some chapters look at contemporary theoretical debates, while others 'reinvent' Australian citizenship from a particular perspective on civil life. The result is a rich and coherent volume that shows the diverse ways in which Australian citizenship can be rethought.

Australian Foreign Policy in Asia

Australian Foreign Policy in Asia PDF Author: Allan Patience
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319693476
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This book sets out to discuss what kind of ‘middle power’ Australia is, and whether its identity as a middle power negatively influences its relationship with Asia. It looks at the history of the middle power concept, develops three concepts of middle power status and examines Australia’s relationships with China, Japan and Indonesia as a focus. It argues that Australia is an ‘awkward partner’ in its relations with Asia due to both its historical colonial and discriminatory past, as well its current dependence upon the United States for a security alliance. It argues this should be changed by adopting a new middle power concept in Australian foreign policy.

Naturalisation: A Passport for the Better Integration of Immigrants?

Naturalisation: A Passport for the Better Integration of Immigrants? PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264099107
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
This conference proceedings provides the papers presented at the This conference proceedings provides the papers presented at the OECD/European Commission joint seminar on Naturalisation and the Socio-Economic Integration of Immigrants and their Children held in October 2010 in Brussels.