A Study On The "Balanced Diplomacy" Under John Howard Government

John Howard enjoys a special place in the history of Australian diplomacy.The ―balanced diplomacy‖ has not only huge effects during his time on office,but also far-reaching consequences for later generations.Generally,the launch of ―balanced diplomacy‖ strategy is decided by Australia‘s national interests,reflects Australia‘s contradiction and orientation between cultural tradition and geopolitical reality;economic development and political union;international righteousness and national interests.The ―balanced diplomacy‖ is the result and new form of Australia’s independent diplomacy,which marks the maturity of Australia‘s foreign policy.The bring out of ―balanced diplomacy‖ is under the background of Australia’s adjustment to foreign policy after the World War II,among which Labour’s practice of ―middle power diplomacy‖ provides an important origin thought to the ―balanced diplomacy‖.Howard’s ―new conservatism‖,which based on political thoughts of Edmund Burke,Margaret Thatcher,Robert Menzines and Ronald Reagan,is another theoretical basis of the ―balanced diplomacy‖.Guided by the idea of balance,Mr.Howard makes a big adjustment to Australia’s foreign policy.On the one hand,he rectifies former Paul Keating government‘s Asia policy by strengthening traditional relations with European and American countries,insteads the ―the Asia only‖by―Asia first‖.On the other hand,he takes a pragmatic way to increase the self-confidence of Australia‘s foreign policy by emphasizing Australia‘s characters and status.The new changes in economic globalization,political multi-polarization and regional security situation also require Australia to pursue a more balanced foreign policy in order to realizing national interests in an all-round way.In order to put the ―balanced diplomacy‖ into effect,Howard‘s coalition government changed the Labour party‘s dependence on the multilateral path,and taked the bilateral relationships with the United States,China,Japan and Indonesia as Australia’s pillar foreign relations.At the meanwhile,he took more attention on the balance between facts such as national interests and national image,national security and international righteousness,engagement and independence.What‘s more,in the aspects of global hotspot issues,multicultural diplomacy,human rights diplomacy,value alliance diplomacy and economic diplomacy,the Howard government had done the best to keep the balance between principle and practicality.Therefore,―balance‖ is the basic logic of Australian foreign policy under the Howard period,after a long period of political practice,the ―balanced diplomacy‖ was basically designed and generated a good response.The ―balanced diplomacy‖ also faces some challenges of course: Australia‘s geographical,cultural and social public opinion will make it fluctuate.But overall the balanced strategy is the best choice of Australian diplomacy;it has a stable policy space.The strategic thought formed during the Howard government has a far-reaching influence to Kevin Rudd‘s ―Asia-Pacific Community‖ initiative and Malcolm Turnbull‘s lease of port Darwin.In a word,the Howard‘s diplomatic activites thoughtout the balance thought provides a complete case for us to understand the foreign features and benefits of Australia’s diplomatic orientation deeply.It also provides analysis basis for us to handle Australia‘s current diplomatic trend,therefore has significant international political significance.