The Evulotion Of The Australia' Policy Toward U.s After The Cold War

With the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Cold War that lasted more than 40 years ended in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The ending of the Cold War fundamentally changed the international system structure,which had major impacts on the relations between the nations. Australia-U.S. alliance stemed from the Cold War.It is a model as a alliance relationship between a superpower and a middle power in the modern international system.The alliance was inspired by Australia's security fears and the fierce international pattern of U.S.-Soviet global confrontation.The ending of the Cold War has not brought about the disappearance of Australia-U.S. alliance. On the contrary,it continued to be adjusted ,developed and strengthened after a brief period of wandering in nearly two decades since the Cold War ended.And it had a more and more profound impact on the Asia-Pacific geopolitics. The evolution of Australia's policy towards the U.S. has distinct characteristics of the times. To study on the asymmetrical alliance is also to analyze a typical case under the changing international situation after the Cold War,which has a certain degree of representation and is of theoretical and practical significance.The subject of this thesis is the evolution of Australia's foreign policy towards the U.S.. From the realism and constructivism analysis perspectives, applying of the historical, comparative and other methods, following historical materialism attitude, from the major historical events and policies in the evolution process of Australia-U.S. relations after the Cold War, and combining with the history background at home and abroad , this thesis systemly analyzes the Australian governments' policies towards the U.S. after the Cold War,and reveals the similarities and differences of its policy in different periods and the characteristics of its policy. From the relationship of the logical level, the thesis is divided into five parts:The first part,as an introduction,firstly introduces the subject, the purpose and significance of the study, then reviews comprehensively the overview of the academic study about Australia-U.S. relations after the cold War at home and abroad, finally presents the thesis's methods and innovations.The second part mainly reviews Australia's policy towards the U.S. before the Cold War. The outbreak of the war in the Pacific made Australia "leave the British toward the U.S.". In the background of the Cold War, Australia was hostile to communism, and followed the U.S.'policy; After Nixon Doctrine was published, Australia began to focus on their own interests, and kept a certain distance with the U.S. .The third Part focuses on the content and process of historical evolution of Australia's policy towards the U.S. after the Cold War,which is divided into three layers. The first layer describes Keating government's policy towards the U.S.: due to the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of Soviet Union, Australia-U.S. alliance lost a clear "target",and the value of the existence of the Australia-U.S. alliance is under testing . Australia did not take the U.S. as its foreign policy's center any more ,turning to a center of Asian region. During Keating period, the Australia-U.S. relations can be described to be a brief period of indecision, and a gestation period of the new policy. The second layer describes the Howard Government's policy towards the U.S.: It inclined to the U.S., and constantly consolidated and enhanced Australia-U.S. alliance relations; After the 9 ? 11 incident, it actively supported and participated in the war on terror that the U.S. launched; The signing of the Australia–U.S. Free Trade Agreement made Australia-U.S.relations develop all-roundly ,the bilateral political ,military and economic ties even closer. The third layer describes the Rudd government's policy towards the U.S.:Under the "creative middle power diplomacy" concept, continuing to maintain its alliance with the U.S.,it seeks greater diplomatic independence. On climate issues,the war in Iraq and the issue of Afghanistan withdrawal, it differed from the U.S..The fourth part analyzes the Australia's policy towards the U.S. after the Cold War, and sums up the main factors that impact its policy.At last, the anthor generalizes the characteristic of its policy, and comments the pros and cons of its policy.The conclusion summarizes the full thesis, and discusses the trends of Australia-U.S. relations in future.