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Foreign policy: Guided by the masses or the elite?

By Daniel Flitton - posted Friday, 17 June 2005


Such assessments are plausible. But we should first assess our view of the news media. Do journalists act, as is so often characterised, as a spotlight that searches the darkness to expose a story, illuminating the facts (or succumbing to the spin) for all the public to see? Or is the media a mirror, one fashioned by the public it serves, reflecting our innate desires, hopes and even our ugliness?

It is worth recalling that during recent years, many events have acted to both stress and strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship:

  • The popular appeal of Pauline Hanson after 1996, her taunts about the ‘‘danger of being swamped by Asians’’ and the perception of John Howard’s tacit support for her views;
  • Australia’s weak diplomatic response to humanitarian atrocities in East Timor coordinated by the Indonesian military in early 1999, the eventual deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation under Australian leadership and the Prime Minister’s initial acceptance of the leitmotif ‘‘Deputy Sheriff’’ for the region;
  • Exploiting the fear of an asylum-seeker influx in 2001, the Government’s chest-beating over sending the boats back to Indonesia, culminating in President Megawati’s refusal to answer Howard’s phone calls; and
  • The Bali bombings in 2002, the Australian Government’s subsequent declaration of the right to take pre-emptive military action if necessary, and the Australian embassy bombing last year.
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Each of these issues has produced an avalanche of advice on how to better manage Australia’s relations with its northern neighbour. Invariably, the media has been blamed for agitating and complicating an already fragile bilateral relationship.

And in most cases, there has been a gulf between popular opinion and the preferences of expert management. As the Lowy Institute showed in a survey issued in April this year, just under half of the Australian respondents professed negative feelings towards Indonesia. If the media is a reflection of the nation, problems like these will continue to plague dealings between the two countries until both peoples understand one another better. This means building public awareness of the key mutual interests and cultural differences.

This necessary renewal cannot be achieved by careful elite management alone. Quarantining foreign policy away from the public only reinforces jingoism, rather than promoting understanding. To the detriment of the nation, many mistakenly follow Locke’s hackneyed advice. Instead, we might look to the counsel of a more contemporary philosopher.

Bob Hawke put it well soon after taking office. ‘‘A government’s foreign policy will ultimately stand or fall on the extent to which it commands the public support and understanding of its domestic community. Where such support is not forthcoming even vigorously pursued policies will collapse.’’

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Article edited by Tanvi Mehta.
If you'd like to be a volunteer editor too, click here.

First published in The Canberra Times  on June 2, 2005.



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About the Author

Daniel Flitton is a Visiting Research Associate at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and works at the Australian National University, Canberra.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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