Paper launch: Australia's Dilemmas: Then and Now

In July 2022, Queen’s College at the University of Melbourne played host to a gathering of historians and foreign policy experts, including both scholars and practitioners from the professions of politics, diplomacy, intelligence, and business. The purpose of this Dialogue – convened by the Robert Menzies Institute with the support of Asialink - was to take stock of Australia’s current moment in history by evaluating Australia’s present policy challenges against those of approximately seventy years ago, when the Menzies government was in office and contending with the onset of the Cold War.

We are pleased to announce the launch of an occasional paper written by Robert Menzies Institute fellow, Dr. William A. Stoltz.

The paper is informed by the proceedings of the Dialogue and is structured around four grand strategic tasks that were identified as a result of the Dialogue. These are the overarching tasks that transcend domestic and foreign policy towards which Australia needs to direct its energies to find security and prosperity in a more volatile, treacherous era. These tasks were also what framed Australian grand strategy in the early years of the Cold War and they came to define how Australia contributed to world affairs during the Menzies era and well into second half of the twentieth century.

1. Navigating Ideological Contest
2. Accelerating national development
3. Exercising new leadership
4. Reforming alliances and partnerships

The paper launch event took place on 22 August 2023, featuring an incredible lineup of expert panelists:

• Georgina Downer, CEO of the Robert Menzies Institute
• Dr William Stoltz, Visiting Fellow at the Robert Menzies Institute and Senior Adviser for Public Policy at the The Australian National University National Security College
• Dr Bec Strating, Director of La Trobe Asia
• Professor Michael Wesley, Asialink Board Member and Deputy Vice Chancellor Global, Culture and Engagement at the University of Melbourne