The US alliance: Nice article, it\'s interesting to think about the short history of Australia\'s foreign service and independent foreign relations.
The question is what does Australia get out of the US alliance and is this enough? Arguably we get security, but that requires believing that someone is actually out to get us in the first place. We do also get things like free trade agreements which are hopefully of use.
Also, Australia culturally is part of the Anglo-sphere, and unless we all start reading other languages our ideas and policy are going to be influenced strongly from other English speaking countries.
Really, Australia is highly unlikely to be doing things any other way.
The other thing to consider was that during the Cold War there was a genuinely menacing enemy (as opposed to the current imagined one) in charge of a country that was expansionist and that had an ideaology that was, quite literally, deadly.
The Cold War only ended 15 years ago. Since the Cold War there has been only occasion on which Australia has been asked to participate in which the world on the whole opposed. And we participated quite cleverly, admittedly over the wishes of a majority of the population, in only sending a few troops.
Australia has also has arguably had some foreign policy success in engaging with Asia, which has been done quietly by successive governments. There has also been some success in the area, putting peace keeping troops into the islands and so on.
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