Australia as a Global Citizen Daryl Le Cornu Mount Annan High School
DARYL.LECORNU@education.nsw.gov.au
Some Teaching Ideas Students to do research using texts and online resources Individual task or group work? Students give presentations to class using ICT? Prepare students to write to a scaffold knowing key facts in each area Debate Australia’s role as global citizen
Is Australia ‘punching above its weight’ as a global citizen?
Punching above our own weight? What does this mean? This term was used a few years ago to describe Australia’s role in the world as a ‘middle power’.
What is a middle power? a term used in the field of international relations to describe states that are not superpowers or great powers, but still have large or moderate influence and international recognition.
Australia’s Ranking Australia leaps in economic rankings.doc Austs_ranking.doc
Australia’s Self-Image A mature democracy Rule of law Multicultural success story Economically competitive Militarily – allied to a hyper-power - USA Politically – we seem to have some clout Going well now but can we stand on our own in the future?
Punching above our own weight? Australia impressed other nations with its swift response to the crisis in East Timor in 1999 and in military intervention and peacekeeping in many locations in the following years.
Punching above our own weight? This can be considered: EITHER A good thing because we are making a significant positive contribution in the world OR A matter of concern because we are over-stretching ourselves as a nation, and cannot sustain such an effort given our population and the size and growing power of our Asian neighbours
Punching above our own weight? To consider this question we need to examine in what ways that Australia has participated as a global citizen in the past. Then… We can consider whether Australia is involving itself in an appropriate way for a middle power today.
Australia as a Global Citizen Alliances Individuals Treaties Australia as a Global Citizen Regional Organisations United Nations Humanitarian Relief Peacekeeping Military Action
1. Alliances
ANZUS Members – Australia, New Zealand the United States Signed 1951 1st reason – originally as a US guarantee that Japan would not threaten Australia and NZ again 2nd reason – in recognition of swift Aust’n support in the Korean War (1950) Purpose – mutual defence
SEATO South-East Asia Treaty Organisation Signed 1954 Purpose: to fight communism in south-east Asia - to be Asian counterpart to NATO (1949) Members – USA, Britain, France, Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan.
60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2008 2. Treaties 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2008
2. Treaties Australia is a signatory to numerous multilateral treaties. Here are some prominent examples: UN Charter 1945 Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 Genocide Convention 1948 Geneva Conventions 1949 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968 Convention Against Torture 1984 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 1996 Rome Statute (1998) – led to formation of International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 Kyoto Protocol 1997 (though not until late 2007)
Australia has also signed many bilateral (between just two nations) treaties. eg Aust-USA Free Trade Agreement 2005
3. United Nations
UN Headquarters – New York
2005 – UN 60th Anniversary
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General
Security Council – in the UN Building New York
Various UN committees
Australia and the United Nations Australia had also been an enthusiastic supporter of the League of Nations from 1919 1945 - Australia a founding member of UN Jessie Street and Dr Evatt helped draft the UN Charter Dr HV Evatt (ALP Foreign Minister) was President of the General Assembly 1948-1949 Australia has been an enthusiastic supporter for most of the post-war period Australians have been involved in the work of many of the UN’s agencies and has actively contributed to numerous peacekeeping missions
4. Peacekeeping
East Timor From 1999 – then with UN Again in 2006 Again in 2008
Solomons - RAMSI
Arc of Instability East Timor New Guinea Vanuatu Solomon’s Fiji
4. Peacekeeping Most, but not all, are operations undertaken as part of the UN Cyprus 1964 Sinai 1973 Kashmir 1976 Namibia 1979 Zimbabwe 1979 Gulf 1991 Somalia 1993 Rwanda 1994 Cambodia 1991-1993 East Timor 1999 Solomons 2003 East Timor 2006
Peacekeeping - websites http://www.australiaun.org/unWeb/content/policy/peacekeeping.asp http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/peacekeeping.htm http://www.awm.gov.au/peacekeeping/ http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/peacekeeping/peace01.html http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/index.asp http://www.awm.gov.au/peacekeeping/timeline/timeline.htm http://www.dfat.gov.au/un/aus_un13.html http://www.awm.gov.au/peacekeeping/timeline/map.htm http://www.defence.gov.au/index.cfm http://www.unaa.org.au/praxis.php/category/view/8 http://www.unaa-wa.org.au/links.php
5. Military Action
Military Action Korea 1950-53 Malaya 1955 Indonesia 1965 Australia played its part in maintaining peace and security in various parts of the world by involvement in military actions: Korea 1950-53 Malaya 1955 Indonesia 1965 Vietnam 1965-71 Gulf War 1991 Afghanistan 2001 & 2006 Iraq 2003
6. Humanitarian Relief
Humanitarian Relief Boxing Day Tsunami 2004 Some examples of the areas in which the Australian government and non-government agencies provide relief: Boxing Day Tsunami 2004 Earthquakes – Indonesia 2006, Turkey Landmines Famine HIV/Aids
Humanitarian Relief For examples see: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/human/emergencies.cfm http://www.ausaid.gov.au/closeup/default.cfm
Colombo Plan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo_plan http://www.pandanusbooks.com.au/item.php?searchterm=PB41B Started 1951 Social development and economic aid to South-east Asian countries
Care Australia http://www.careaustralia.org.au/
7. Regional Organisations
ASEAN Members Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
The ASEAN Regional Forum ASEAN Regional Forum: ██ ASEAN countries ██ Other ASEAN Regional Forum participants
ASEAN Regional Forum ASEAN regularly conducts dialogue meetings with other countries and an organization, collectively known as the ASEAN dialogue partners during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The ASEAN Regional Forum is an informal multilateral dialogue of 25 members that seeks to address security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The ARF met for the first time in 1994. The current participants in the ARF are as follows: ASEAN, Australia, Canada, People's Republic of China, European Union, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, East Timor, and the United States. Bangladesh was added to ARF as the 26th member, starting from July 28, 2006.
APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific Rim countries who meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. It has standing committees on a wide range of issues, from communications to fisheries. The heads of government of all APEC members meet annually in a summit called "APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting" rotating in location among APEC's member economies. APEC is famous for its tradition of having attending leaders dress in the national costume of the host nation.
APEC Members Australia • Brunei Darussalam • Canada • Chile • People's Republic of China • Hong Kong, China • Indonesia • Japan • Malaysia • Mexico • New Zealand • Papua New Guinea • Peru • Philippines • Russia • Singapore • Republic of Korea • Chinese Taipei • Thailand • United States • Vietnam
Canberra Commission http://www.dfat.gov.au/cc/cchome.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra_Commission_on_the_Elimination_of_Nuclear_Weapons
8. Individual Australians
Stanley Melbourne Bruce Ex-Australian PM 1923-29 Distinguished career in League of Nations in 1930s President of League Council during Ethiopian Crisis (1936) One of the League’s most determined international statesmen Bruce Report (1939) on international economic cooperation anticipated work of later Economic and Social Council of the UN 1946-51 chaired World Food Council of FAO
Stanley Melbourne Bruce http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Bruce http://www.nma.gov.au/education/school_resources/resource_websites_and_interactives/primeministers/stanley_bruce/
Dr H. V. Evatt Foreign Minister 1941-1949 in Curtin and Chifley Labor governments Leading role in creation of UN in 1945 President of UN General Assembly 1948-1949 Leading role in creation of the state of Israel in 1948
Dr H. V. Evatt http://www.lib.flinders.edu.au/resources/collection/special/evatt/evattbiog.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.V._Evatt
Jessie Street Founding member of the League of Nations Union (Aust) in 1918 Attended League General Assemblies in 1930 and 1938 Only Australian woman delegate at the conference to create the UN in 1945 Co-founder of Un Commission on the Status of Women and Charter of Women’s rights
Jessie Street http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160396b.htm http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/contents.asp?cID=30 http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0013b.htm
John Sanderson 1991 – Adviser to the Secretary General of the UN to bring peace to Cambodia 1991-1993 Commanded 16000 UN force (UNTAC) in Cambodia Supervised successful elections in 1993 that ended civil war going on since 1970
John Sanderson http://www.awm.gov.au/peacekeeping/cambodia/australia.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sanderson
Gareth Evans Foreign Minister in Hawke-Keating governments Led international community’s attempts to end Vietnamese occupation of and end civil war in Cambodia Initiated Canberra Commission on Elimination of Nuclear Weapons 1996 Worked for UN in recent years Involved in International Crisis Group Promoted the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine (R2P) at the World Summit in 2005 Worked with Hans Blix on the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission Could have been in the running for Secretary-General
Gareth Evans http://www.un-globalsecurity.org/bios/evans.asp http://www.answers.com/topic/gareth-evans-politician http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/evans-bio.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Evans_(politician)
Richard Butler Head of UNSCOM 1997-1998 Expert on nuclear arms control Wrote book Fatal Choice in 2002 Critic of George W. Bush Administration’s unilateralist foreign policy Advocate of strengthening Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Richard Butler http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=71 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Butler_%28diplomat%29 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/03/1033538680140.html http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813340977/ref=pd_bxgy_img_a/103-1750409-9919846?ie=UTF8
Helen Caldicott Passionate campaigner against the hazards of the nuclear age for 35 years Written numerous books on nuclear Issues One of the influential women of the twentieth century – Smithsonian Institute President of Nuclear Policy Research Institute in Washington DC
Helen Caldicott http://experts.about.com/e/h/he/Helen_Caldicott.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Caldicott http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2006/08/117236.shtml http://www.helencaldicott.com/
Steve Pratt Human rights campaigner Humanitarian work for CARE since 1993 in Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, Zaire and Yugoslavia Taken prisoner in Yugoslavia in 1999 Wrote book in 2000 – Duty of Care Speaker on international issues
Steve Pratt http://www.celebrityspeakers.com.au/brspeaker_bio.asp?Speaker_Index_Text=213 http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s48925.htm
Rod Barton Expert in WMDs Member of the inspection teams in Iraq, UNSCOM and UNMOVIC 1991-2002 Adviser to US survey group in Iraq in 2003 Embarrased the Australian Govt by stating that he saw abuse of prisoners in Iraq and passed this info on to the Govt.
Rod Barton http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/14/1108229865866.html http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/02-16-05/discussion.cgi.57.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNSCOM http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2005/s1302494.htm http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/mhab-f18.shtml
Peter Cosgove Led INTERFET peacekeeping mission into East Timor in 1999 Success of the mission made him one of the most respected and popular military leaders
Peter Cosgove http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cosgrove http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/peacekeeping.htm http://www.brisinst.org.au/resources/sanderson_wayne_soldier.html http://www.etan.org/et2000a/february/20-29/23aust.htm
James Wolfensohn President of World Bank 1995-2006 Tried to address the needs of the world’s poorest countries 1996 – launched Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). Advocated trust building between the Bank’s clients, NGOs and private companies
James Wolfensohn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolfensohn http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi-wto/wolfsohn.htm http://www.npr.org/programs/npc/2003/031029jwolfensohn.html http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTARCHIVES/0,,contentMDK:20475199~pagePK:36726~piPK:36092~theSitePK:29506,00.html
Rowan Gillies Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – Afghanistan, Sierra Leone before MSF medical coordinator in south Sudan, then Liberia. President of MSF Australia in January 2002 elected international president of MSF later in 2002
Rowan Gillies http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2005-04-13# http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/01/20/1106110882796.html?from=top5 http://careerfocus.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7462/68
Frank Lowy One of Australia’s richest businessman Lowy Institute for International Policy - independent, non-partisan think tank to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political
Frank Lowy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lowy http://www.lowyinstitute.org/
So… Is Australia ‘punching above its weight’ as a global citizen?
Punching above our own weight? How has Australia performed as a global citizen in the past? What is Australia doing now? What should Australia do in the future?
Consider the following Know some facts on each of these areas
Australia as a Global Citizen Alliances Individuals Treaties Australia as a Global Citizen Regional Organisations United Nations Humanitarian Relief Peacekeeping Military Action
The End