Contents: Foreword. Preface. I. Introduction: 1. Australia’s perceptions and policies in the emerging global order: an overview/D. Gopal. 2. Australia in a changing world/R. Narayanan. II. Society and culture: 3. Sources of Australian identity/Rory Medcalf. 4. Governance of Australia’s aborigines: some unresolved issues/Priti Singh. 5. Multiculturalism in Australia: perspectives and problems/A.S. Narang and D. Gopal. 6. Immigration, Multiculturalism and regional relations of Australia/Vishnu Priya. 7. Australian multiculturalism and its perspectives on education/I. Jaya Bharati. III. Australia and the great powers: 8. Australia, United States and the Asian stability/Chintamani Mahapatra. 9. Australia and the western world/V.N. Khanna. 10. Sino-Australian ties: "So close and yet so far?/Sreemati Chakrabarti. 11. "China factor" in Australia’s foreign policy/Dalbir Singh. 12. Australia and China in a changing world/Alka Acharya. IV. Australia and Asia-Pacific: 13. Prospects of cooperative security and peace in the Asia-Pacific /Shri Prakash. 14. Australia and Southeast Asia/Ganganath Jha. 15. Japan-Australia relations: legacy of the 1990s/H.S. Prabhakar. 16. Australia’s peacekeeping role in east Timor and its implications for relations with Indonesia/Baladas Ghoshal. 17. Australia’s policy towards South Pacific: with special reference to Papua new guinea and Fiji/Amba Pande. V. Australia-India relations: 18. Tensions in the Indian Ocean region: implications for India and Australia/Anirudha Gupta. 19. Australia: an Indian Ocean state?/Kuldeep Kaur. 20. Australia-India relations: a critical survey/Man Mohini Kaul. 21. India-Australia trade and investment relations in the 1990s/Madhu Bala. 22. Australia and globalisation: economic integration with India/Reena Agrawala. 23. India and Australia towards forging a dynamic relationship/Shanta Nedungadi Varma. VI. Australia on global issues: 24. Is Australia a middle power in the emerging world order?/Abdul Nafey. 25. Australia and the United Nations in a changing world/C.S.R. Murthy. 26. Human rights of the aborigines in Australian law/Sudhir Kumar Singh. 27. Globalisation and public administration reforms in Australia/R.B. Jain. 28. Environmental policy of Australia/Sudha Raghavan. Select bibliography/Priti Singh. Index.
"At the dawn of the new millennium, Australia is at crossroads seeking redefinition of its identity. Its traditional commitment to the Western alliance system with its recently evolving inclination to seek an identity in the Asia-Pacific has placed the island country in a bind. Overarching these are the forces of globalisation that impinge on past norms of geography and politics seeking revisions in its policies and postures. Poised thus on the "hinges of history", Australia’s "true place" in the comity of nations is yet to be etched anew.
Australia’s emerging socio-political architecture with its pronounced accent on multiculturalism has drawn the attention of a number of countries including importantly India. In the fast changing international scenario after all, it is in India’s interest to discover areas of potential engagement with countries where there are prospects of a mutually beneficial relationship.
The range of themes discussed in this volume is an evidence of the heightened awareness and interest an Australia among Indian academics. The book captures the essences of the Indian outlook and perspectives on Australia and offers insights into Australia’s policies and initiatives in respect of the great powers, the Asia-Pacific region and India. It is a very useful book for students and research scholars on Australia as well as for those interested in understanding the region in today’s global scenario." (jacket)
