Two lonely countries on the edge of Asia: Australia and Japan

Abstract

Australia and Japan have come to rely on each other for their economic security. However, they both share a worrisome distancing from their Asian neighbours. For a variety of reasons—some similar, some dissimilar, but all of them potent—they remain outsiders in the Asia-Pacific region. They are often perceived as states that relate awkwardly, sometimes counterproductively within the region: with each other, and with other regional contenders and would-be partners. This is evident in the suspicious pragmatism with which a rising China, for example, treats both Japan and Australia—for different reasons but with almost identical consequences. The causes of this alienation from mainstream Asia lie first in Australia's clinging to its British past and its dependence on its alliance with the Unites States. Secondly, Japan's failure to face up to its record of militarism during the Pacific War seriously constrains its relations with countries in the region—all of whom suffered from the crazy Japanese ambition to...