75 years ago, the Australia-US Alliance was vital to Australia’s survival as a free and independent nation. However, times have changed and now dependence on that alliance jeopardises Australia’s survival and development as a mature member of the global community of nations.
In 1945, Australia and the US played leading roles in the formation of the United Nations because it was seen as the only way to avoid future global devastation such as that wreaked by the Second World War. Through the UN it was recognised that peace was not achievable through the old patterns of competing alliances but rather through multilateralism, the rule of international law, human rights and sustainable development of all nations for all of humanity: “We The Peoples”.
Sadly, the wisdom, leadership and vision showed in 1945 has been eroded due to the complacent and misguided sense of security that the majority of Australians still gain through holding onto the past.
With such a mindset, we are easily swayed by the self-serving jingoism of some current politicians and led down a self-destructive, binary path. It is disturbing to hear the current government denigrating and undermining the UN, seemingly happy to follow the lead of Trumpism.
Our prosperous future lies in resuming our role as a global nation – strengthening the UN and continuing to work to address its limitations and achieve responsible, transparent and accountable multilateralism. Community education for global citizenship and sustainable development is the key strategy to build the mindset transformation that is urgently required to achieve this.
