Important ally and undervalued guarantor of Asian stability, or victim of American manipulation? All of these terms and more could be used to describe Australia’s role in the U.S.-Australian alliance. In recent years Prime Minister John Howard has reversed the strategic drift between the two countries that had begun in the 1980s, and after 9/11, Australia became one of the United States’ closest allies. As it tilts its foreign policy toward the United States, Canberra has also been conducting a soul-searching review of the country’s defense policy, aimed at better aligning Australia’s strategy with the American military’s as both respond to new terrorism threats. However, despite these developments, there may be storm clouds on the horizon of U.S.-Australian relations.

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