Two lonely countries on the edge of Asia: Australia and Japan

Abstract

Australia and Japan have come to rely on each other for their economic security. However, they both share a worrisome distancing from their Asian neighbours. For a variety of reasonssome similar, some dissimilar, but all of them potentthey remain outsiders in the Asia-Pacific region. They are often perceived as states that relate awkwardly, sometimes counterproductively within the region: with each other, and with other regional contenders and would-be partners. This is evident in the suspicious pragmatism with which a rising China, for example, treats both Japan and Australiafor different reasons but with almost identical consequences. The causes of this alienation from mainstream Asia lie ..