An Army of Influence: Eighty Years of Regional Engagement

Description

The importance of regional cooperation is becoming more apparent as the world moves into the third decade of the 21st century. An Army of Influence is a thought-provoking analysis of the Australian Army's capacity to change, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Written by highly regarded historians, strategists and practitioners, this book examines the Australian Army's influence abroad and the lessons it has learnt from its engagement across the Asia-Pacific region. It also explores the challenges facing the Australian Army in the future and provides principles to guide operational, administrative and modernisation planning. Containing full-colour maps and images, An Army of Influence will be of interest to both the wider defence community and general readers. It underscores the importance of maintaining an ongoing presence in the region and engages with history to address the issues facing the Army both now and into the future. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Foreword Contents List of figures, maps and tables List of contributors List of abbreviations Introduction Part 1 The concept of an army’s influence abroad 1 Eighty years of regional engagement 2 The Australian Army through the lens of Australian defence white papers since 1976 3 Defence Attaché in Indonesia: Lessons from 20 years ago Part 2 Lessons from past relationships 4 General Blamey and the Backroom Boys: Colonel Conlon, and the Army’s adaptation and access in the Pacific and Asia, 1942–1946 5 ‘Not rich in standing armies or immediately available resources’: Plans, realities and the Australian Regular Army’s deployment to Korea, 1950 6 Helping the Americans help the Vietnamese? Defence engagement with the Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975 7 East Timor and the crisis of 1999: A case study on the limitations of relationships 8 Onward and onya: The involvement, interaction and influence of the New Zealand and Australian armies Part 3 Ongoing relationships 9 Access, but how much influence? An historical overview of Australia–Indonesia army-to-army cooperation 10 Australia’s military engagement with Malaysia, 1955–2020 11 Cambodia: More than ‘a signals show’ 12 Was the juice worth the squeeze? Australian Defence Force investment in nation-building in Bougainville and Solomon Islands 13 Achieving influence through advising relationships 14 Training teams as a force of choice: Building partner capacity in the Philippines 15 A perspective on diplomacy in the Army’s contemporary regional relationship-building 16 The Army’s patchy engagement with Australia’s near north Index