INR3000 - S1 2019: Australian Foreign Relations Article Review

This essay critically analyzes Wilkins' (2017) article, "Australia and middle power approaches to Asia Pacific regionalism," examining Australia's foreign policy within the context of Asia-Pacific regionalism. The essay begins by summarizing the article's core arguments, including the application of a liberal-institutionalist framework to understand Australia's approach to regionalism, security architecture, and regional order. It then traces the development of Australia's foreign relations, highlighting the influence of European colonization and the country's evolving identity. The essay assesses the article's strengths, such as its focus on the evolution of Australian foreign policy and its trade relationships within the Asia-Pacific region, and weaknesses, including the lack of discussion on the initial foreign policy issues. The essay concludes by evaluating the author's contribution to understanding the complexities of Australian foreign policy and its implications for business organizations operating in the Asia-Pacific region. The essay highlights how the article provides insights for future researchers and the development of Australia as a middle power.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN RELATIONS - ARTICLE REVIEW
AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN RELATIONS - ARTICLE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The following essay attempts a critical analysis of the article discussing the foreign
policy of Australian in regards to the Asia-Pacific regionalism. The essay opens with the
discussion on the major content that has been put forth by the author of the article. The essay
proceeds to discuss the development of the foreign relations of Australia over the course of time
since the European colonization within the country. The essay then throws light on the strengths
and the weaknesses of the article. The essay finally reaches a conclusion with the discussion of
the contribution of the author towards the field of research.
Content
Wilkins (2017) in the article entitled “Australia and middle power approaches to Asia
Pacific regionalism” discusses the liberal-institutionalist conceptual framework that is essential
for the analysis of the approaches of the foreign policies towards the regionalism of the Asia-
Pacific. The article attempts an analysis of the building of the regional community, the
architecture of the security of the region as well as the regional order that present within the
areas. The article further proceeds to put forth the identification of the strong linkages that exist
within the practice and the theory of the concept of regionalism and the diplomatic practices of
the middle power as is present within the foreign policy of Australia. The article focusses
majorly on the contribution to the theoretical literature that exists in the realm of foreign policies
of the country as is implemented for the operations in the Asia-Pacific region (Wilkins 2017).
The article further discusses the highlighting of Australia to be one of the major middle powers
that have been operating in the world. The article discusses the unexplored synergy that is
present within the concepts of the regionalism and the middle power within the international
market (Wilkins 2017). The article further discusses the attempts that were presented by the

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governmental authorities which were required for providing a proper leverage of the middle
power credentials of Australia in relation to the regionalism.
Development of foreign relations in Australia
The article helps the readers as well as the future researchers in order to have a proper
understanding on the development of the factors and the issues that have led to the emergence of
Australia as a global middle-power. The article further highlights the major analysis of the
foreign policy implemented by Australia in the regions that are categorized within the Asia-
Pacific region. The article discusses the fact that the Australian region for the hostility that the
country dwellers have been putting forth towards the European settlement and the countries
within the Asia-Pacific region. The author states that the country had been torn between the
European identity maintained by the people of the country and the geographical location of the
country which is majorly linked to Asia. This had resulted in the problematic nature of the
foreign relations that was maintained by the concerned country (Baker 2015). The foreign
relations of Australia are observed to have been developed since the 1960s when there had been
a significant change that was observed in the foreign relations due to the influence of the
economic rise of the Asian countries (Farrall & Prantl 2016). The interactions with the Asian
countries are known to have been playing a central role in defining the public policy that was
maintained within Australia (Lagerkvist 2015). The article states that the concerned country
placed a major emphasis on the development of the regionalism as a step to the development of
the country as a middle power within the international market.
Strengths and weaknesses

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The major strengths of the article lie in the highlighting of the progress of the Australian
foreign policy since the earlier days. The article focusses on the growth of the foreign policy
maintained by the Australian government in the trade relationships that exist among the countries
of the Asia Pacific region (Wilkins 2017). The article discusses the issues that have been
highlighted due to the regionalism that has been presented within the Asia Pacific region. This
further helped in the development of the identity of Australia as a middle power within the
international market (Lee & Park 2017). The articled focusses on the obstacles and the
oppositions that were faced by the country in the establishment of the country as a middle power.
The article demonstrates a number of weaknesses as well. The article fails to put forth a
proper discussion on the issues that had led to the improper nature of the foreign policy that was
maintained in the initial days (Wilkins 2017). The article fails in the discussion of the issues that
are related to the dilemma that is faced by the country in the implementation of the regionalism
within the Asia-Pacific region. The major issues are presented due to the conflict in the favors
that are presented by the regionalism of the Asian and the Pacific cultures (Rimmer 2016). The
article fails to put forth a proper discussion on this dilemma faced by the organization.
Author's contribution
The author of the article is observed to have been contributing a major amount to the
understanding of the development of the issues that are presented within the foreign policies that
are maintained within the concerned country. The authors further help in the demonstration of
the ways in which the Australian foreign policy has evolved over time (Wilkins 2016). The
business organizations that are present within the Australian territories should abide by the
foreign policies that have been presented in relation to the dealing with the business
organizations that are operative in the Asia-Pacific region (Steinberg 2016). The article further

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helps the future researchers to have a proper understanding of the regionalism that is essential for
the understanding of the issues presented in dealing with the operations in the international
markets.
Conclusion
In lieu of the above discussion, it might be stated that the article has put forth a proper
discussion on the issues that might be encountered by the Australian business organizations in
dealing with the companies in the Asia-Pacific organization. The article helps the readers to
develop a proper understanding of the Australian foreign policy as well as the advancements that
have been encountered by the foreign policy of Australian in regards to the Asia-Pacific
regionalism.

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References
Baker, N., 2015. New Zealand and Australia in pacific regionalism. The new Pacific diplomacy,
pp.137-148.
Farrall, J. & Prantl, J., 2016. Leveraging diplomatic power and influence on the UN Security
Council: the case of Australia. Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 70, no. 6, pp.601-
612.
Lagerkvist, J., 2015. The ordoliberal turn? Getting China and global economic governance
right. Global Affairs, vol. 1, no. 4-5, pp.411-419.
Lee, S.W. & Park, C.Y., 2017. Korea's Middle Power Diplomacy for Human Security: A Global
and Regional Approach. Journal of International and Area Studies, pp.21-44.
Rimmer, S.H., 2016. Australian experiments in creative governance, regionalism, and
plurilateralism. International Journal, vol. 71, no. 4, pp.630-650.
Steinberg, D.A., 2016. Developmental states and undervalued exchange rates in the developing
world. Review of International Political Economy, vol. 23, no. 3, pp.418-449.
Wilkins, T 2017, ‘Australia and middle power approaches to Asia Pacific regionalism’,
Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 52, no. 1, pp.110-125.
Wilkins, T.S., 2016. The Japan choice: reconsidering the risks and opportunities of the ‘Special
Relationship’for Australia. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, vol. 16, no. 3, pp.477-
520.