This book was a Lowy Institute paper written in 2006 in the twilight of the Howard era analysing and assessing Howard’s foreign policy over a decade. It saw Howard as an influential foreign policy PM operating as a response agent to events, many of them dramatic. Beginning as a novice in diplomacy Howard finished as a veteran.
But his approach was governed by a set of core instincts and deep beliefs – that the bond with the US was a special national asset, that Japan was our best friend in Asia, that China was our greatest fresh opportunity, that national values, border protection and national identity must not be compromised, that Australia’s prestige in the world would be shaped by the quality of its economy and society and not moral edicts from the human rights industry and that Australia must prove itself as a success in the globalised world while being a leader in its own region.
