This investigation follows the intriguing evolution of the Howard Government's depictions of China, and reveals a complex and calculated strategy that successfully transformed a potentially volatile conflict of interests into a functional foreign policy.Australia's strategic depiction of China has assumed increased importance as it attempts to harmonise economic interests (focusing on China) with security interests...

Asia looks and feels very different now compared to the days of the Cold War. The sense that Asia now works differently can be traced to a single source - the re-emergence of China. Asia looks and feels very different now compared to the days of the Cold War. The sense that Asia now works...

Endeavouring to move beyond 'simplistic' points about the rights to freedom of expression and sacrosanctity, this collection explores how differences between conceptions of the sacred can be negotiated. It recognises that blasphemy may be justified as a form of political criticism, as well as a sincere expression of spirituality. But it also recognises that within...

Centrelink was established in 1997 as part of the Howard government’s bold experiment in re-framing social policy and re-shaping service delivery. Centrelink was the embodiment of a key tenet of the Howard vision for public service: a specialised service delivery ‘provider’ agency separated from the policy functions of the ‘purchaser’. Carved out of a monolithic...

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is the most interesting phenomenon in contemporary Indonesian politics. Not only is it growing rapidly in membership and electoral support, it is also bringing a new and markedly different approach to Islamic politics, one which has no precedent in Indonesian history. Understanding PKS and analysing its political behaviour presents challenges...