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The ‘Natural Ally’? The ‘Natural Partner’? — Australia and the Atlantic Alliance

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NATO: The Power of Partnerships

Part of the book series: New Security Challenges Series ((NSECH))

Abstract

Among the long list of states with which NATO intensified its relations after September 2001, Australia appears to be a ‘natural partner’ for the Alliance (Myrli, 2008). As a Western liberal democracy rooted in the Westminster tradition, it is culturally and politically close to both European and North American countries. Throughout its history, it has been closely allied to the UK and, since World War II, to the US. Through the ANZUS Treaty, the US and Australia have exchanged pledges of mutual assistance. Australia also has a significant number of troops deployed to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, most of which are operating in Oruzgan province in Regional Command South. With 1550 personnel, Australia was the largest non-NATO troop contributor to ISAF in 2010, ranking 10th out of 43 troop-contributing nations overall (NATO, 2010a).

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Authors
  1. Stephan Frühling
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  2. Benjamin Schreer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Defence University College, Norway

    Håkan Edström (Lecturer and Researcher) (Lecturer and Researcher)

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway

    Janne Haaland Matlary (Professor of International Politics) (Professor of International Politics)

  3. The Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Norway

    Magnus Petersson (Senior Research Fellow) (Senior Research Fellow)

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© 2011 Stephan Frühling and Benjamin Schreer

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Frühling, S., Schreer, B. (2011). The ‘Natural Ally’? The ‘Natural Partner’? — Australia and the Atlantic Alliance. In: Edström, H., Matlary, J.H., Petersson, M. (eds) NATO: The Power of Partnerships. New Security Challenges Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230297500_3

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