Australian society and its leaders generally take for
granted the importance and value of this nation’s relationship with the United
States. The US is commonly thought of as the world’s great purveyor of liberal
values and the rule of law, and as a powerful friend indispensable to
Australian security. In The US Lobby and Australian Defence Policy Vince
Scappatura demonstrates how these conceptions are underpinned by the work of
the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, Australia’s most important,
private, pro-US lobby group.
As the inner workings of this lobby are unveiled
for the first time, Scappatura also discusses the considerable costs to
Australia of its strong military ties to the US, draws into question notions of 'benign' US power, and demonstrates that suggestions of the US keeping
Australia safe from invasion are flatly wrong. For Australia’s national
security elite, other considerations, to do with power and wealth and spreading
political influence, are to the fore.
