Australia, the US and East Asia: Are close ties with the Bush administration beneficial?

Australian policymakers have traditionally made cultivating close strategic ties with the dominant power of the era the centerpiece of foreign policy. As Australia's prominent role in the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq demonstrates, this strategy is alive and well. It is, however, no longer clear whether this strategy is in either Australia's national interest or that of the international community more generally. I argue that, in reality, close ties with the current Bush administration have been costly and may further complicate Australia's relations with an East Asian region in which China is becoming an increasingly important actor.