This background note revises material previously released by the Parliamentary Library on Australia's involvement in Afghanistan. In November 2010, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Government of Afghanistan agreed to a formal transition process that would transfer full security responsibility to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by the end of 2014. This process...

Research in Uruzgan, the province which is the primary focus of Australia's military deployment in Afghanistan, suggests that insecurity is largely the result of the failure of governance, which has exacerbated traditional tribal rivalries. While respondents within the international military did report some short-term benefits of aid projects in facilitating interaction with and collecting information...

John Buckley, formerly Australia's Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues, stresses that Australia cannot cope with irregular migration on its own. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are already particularly important in controlling the flow of asylum seekers to Australia, but receive very little credit. As the government grapples for a solution to the current impasse, what does...

This background note highlights some key public statements by Australian Government officials on the Arab-Israeli conflict as a way of illustrating Australia’s evolving policies towards the Middle East. It focuses on Australia’s publicly stated position on Palestinian statehood, but also references Australia’s response to the many developments concerning the Arab-Israeli dispute over the years. The...

This background note examines the Australian Government's response to key developments relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2007, as well as broader Government statements on the nature of the conflict and its possible resolution. This paper complements another Parliamentary Library Background Note, Australia and the Middle East conflict: a history of key Government statements (1947–2007)...