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The Two Streams of Australia's Middle Power Imagining and their Sources
Author(s) -
Patience Allan
Publication year - 2014
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/ajph.12069
Subject(s) - power (physics) , middle east , middle power , idealism , foreign policy , streams , springing , security policy , political science , history , sociology , political economy , law , engineering , epistemology , politics , computer security , philosophy , computer science , computer network , physics , quantum mechanics , structural engineering
This essay identifies two streams of middle power imagining in Australian foreign policy. The first springs from four sources, forming a version of middle power imagining that emphasizes security challenges facing Australia, requiring alliances with “great and powerful friends”. The second stream, springing from the fifth source outlined below, reflects an ambiguous idealism in the middle power imagining it produces. The essay notes that the first stream of middle power imagining is the dominant one in Australian foreign policy thinking.