The Conservatism of Australian Foreign Policy: Australia, China, the United States, and the Hegemonic Crisis

Abstract

This thesis analyses the impact of historical and structural forces on the Australia-China relationship since 2011. After a steady period of deepening ties since the 1970s, largely driven by economic complementarities, Australia-China relations have markedly declined in recent years. Applying a neo-Marxist study of the historical development of Australia-China relations and the underlying structures that shape world order, the thesis finds that Australia’s relations with the United States and the changing dynamics of Indo-Pacific power distribution are the key factors guiding the formulation of Australian foreign policy regarding China. Australia’s historic position within a strategic and economic system guaranteed by a foreign hegemonic power has established a ‘sub-imperial’ norm in its foreign policy, which has granted these hegemonic powers significant influence over the formulation of Australian foreign policy. Australia’s deteriorating relationship with China is a direct response to the new demands of the United States to oppose China’s rise, and so preserve American hegemony in Asia.