The Australian government yesterday branded multilateral forums such as the UN as "ineffective and unfocused" and said its future foreign policy would increasingly rely on "coalitions of the willing" like the one that waged war in Iraq.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also said that in Canberra's view, other nation's sovereignty was "not absolute."
The assertive new doctrine outlined by Downer comes a day after Australia announced it would lead an international force of troops and police to restore order to the violence-wracked Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific.
Downer's speech reflected comments late last year by Prime Minister John Howard that Australia would be prepared to launch pre-emptive strikes against terror targets in Asia -- words that sparked outrage in Asia.
Australia's decision to support the US-lead war in Iraq without UN sanction "has signaled that we are prepared to take the hard decisions to enhance our security," Downer said in a nationally televised address to the National Press Club.
"Some multilateral institutions will remain important to our interests," he said. "But increasingly multilateralism is a synonym for an ineffective and unfocused policy involving internationalism of the lowest common denominator."
Australia has been an unflinching supporter of US President George W. Bush, sending 2,000 troops to the Iraq war and backing Washington's so-called "pre-emptive strike" policy in which the US would invade countries if it believed they were harboring terrorists.
In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Canberra was a harsh critic of the UN Security Council, where France and other nations wanted to give weapons inspectors more time to determine whether Baghdad was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Howard has stood with the US in its war on terrorism and earlier contributed troops to the US-led coalition in Afghanistan.
"We are prepared to join coalitions of the willing that can bring focus and purpose to addressing the urgent security and other challenges we face," Downer said. "Sovereignty in our view is not absolute. Acting for the benefit of humanity is more important."
The impact of international terrorism was brought brutally home to Australia on Oct. 12 when 88 of its citizens were among 202 people killed when two bombs exploded in crowded bars on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
Howard and Downer announced Wednesday that Australia stood ready to send troops and police to the Solomon Islands if New Zealand and other Pacific nations joined the peacekeeping force. The proposed force follows a request for help from Solomons Prime Minister Alan Kemakeza.
The Solomons have been torn by ethnic violence since 1998, and the government has little control outside of the capital, Honiara.
Howard said the Solomon Islands was in danger of becoming a failed state that could be exploited by "international drug dealers, money launderers, international terrorism."
Australia would "pay dearly" if it did not act, he said.
Downer's decision to so clearly articulate such an assertive approach to foreign policy is likely to cause further unease among Asian neighbors. Australia's strident support for Washington during the seven years of Howard's conservative government has often been a source of concern in Southeast Asia.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a predominantly Muslim nation and longtime critic of Australia, has accused Howard of acting like a deputy sheriff to Washington.
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