Economic Factors have been of dominant concern in Australian Foreign Po

‘ECONOMIC FACTORS HAVE BEEN THE DOMINANT CONCERN IN AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN POLICY OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS.’ During the past 25 years, Australian Foreign Policy has consisted of a balance between economic and security priorities. No government can afford to focus on one to the detriment of the other. During the Hawke and Keating era (1983-1996), economic factors were of significant importance as we were in a region that was growing rapidly, faster than any other region in the world. Although having said this, it can be argued that there were exceptions whereby security initiatives were of equal concern to the government. In the current day (Howard era), it is possible to view that there is a higher emphasis on security initiatives than ever before due to being situated in a heavily volatile region (Arc of Instability). Having said this, there once again has been emphasis on the economic growth and prosperity of our nation at the same time, via the use of Trade Agreements and other forms of economic policy. This indicates that although there have been concern on economic factors in the past 25 years in relation to Australian Foreign Policy (AFP) decisions, there has also been a balanced emphasis on security factors during this period. There is no doubt that during the Hawke/Keating era (83-96) economic priorities received significant emphasis in Australian Foreign Policy decisions. To promote the economic growth and increase of trade in the Asia Pacific Region, the Hawke government embarked on a period of ‘enmeshment’ within the region. Keating proposed this enmeshment with neighboring â€Å"Tiger Economies† by co-founding the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Corporation), in 1989. Focused on facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, it was seen as being crucial to maintain healthy international diplomatic relations within the Asia - Pacific region. This was largely due to the strengthening trading blocks such as the EU (European Union) and NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement). These trading blocks exclusively stipulated that major trading was being transacted via these member economies and was ruling Australia out of many valuable markets. This reinforced that Australia must turn towards its own region for the concentration of developing itself as a strong economy and therefore founded the APEC organization under it... ...ing economic growth in the Asia Pacific Region, whilst also maintaining a fair market for the trade of agricultural goods. On the other hand particular focus was also placed on the national security interests on Australia with the participation in the 1991 Gulf War, in an attempt to strengthen our military ties with the USA and also strengthen ties via the ANZUS Treaty. However it can also be seen during the Howard era that Foreign Policy focus was primarily on a balance between security and economic objectives via the implementation of the â€Å"Helpem Fren† initiative in the Solomon Islands and Enhanced Cooperation Program in Papua New Guinea, there were also factors that determined a focus on security initiatives along with this economic focus. This was through Australia’s participation in the Gulf War to improve our military relationship and ‘insurance policy’ with the USA. Economic factors that were also in the Australian government interests for t he nation, was the bilateral free trade agreement with the USA. After evaluating both of these national parties and eras it can concluded that no government can afford to focus on one area of foreign policy to the detriment of the other.