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ANZUS — Alive and Well after Fifty Years
Author(s) -
Tow William,
Albinski Henry
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8497.00256
Subject(s) - alliance , normative , politics , political science , test (biology) , international relations , political economy , positive economics , law and economics , law , sociology , economics , paleontology , biology
Marking its fiftieth anniversary in late 2001, the ANZUS alliance remains Australia’s primary security relationship and one of the United States’ most important defence arrangements in the Asia‐Pacific region. It is argued here that ANZUS has defied many common suppositions advanced by international relations theorists on how alliances work. It thus represents an important refutation of arguments that they are short‐term instruments of mere policy expediency and are largely interest‐dependent. Cultural and normative factors are powerful, if often underrated, determinants for ANZUS’s perpetuation. ANZUS may thus constitute an important test case for expanding our understanding of alliance politics beyond the usual preconditions and prerogatives normally associated with such a relationship.