BRISBANE, Australia -- While the historical origins and cultural roots of Australia lie in Europe, its primary strategic alliance is with the United States, its pri- mary security focus is on Southeast Asia, and its major trading partners are in Northeast Asia.
Australia is so isolated that it cannot afford to be isolationist. Developments in transport and communications have helped to attenuate the tyranny of distance, a phrase and concept made famous by historian Geoffrey Blainey.
At the policy level, regional engagement is the solution to this dilemma -- the path to salvation from economic marginalization, strategic loneliness and political irrelevance. By agreeing to sign what may be an innocuous Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia has secured an invitation to the inaugural East Asian summit in December (as have India and Japan).