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Middle Powers and Awkward Partners

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Australian Foreign Policy in Asia

Part of the book series: Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific ((CSAP))

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Abstract

This chapter explores the genealogy of the middle power concept tracing its roots back to China in the third century BCE. The Chinese sage Mencius nominated a role for middle-sized states as mediators between potentially conflicting big states. Bartolus de Saxaferrato in the fourteenth century proposed a similar idea. In the eighteenth century L’Abbé de Mably echoed this theme. In the twentieth century this idea was influential in the establishment of the United Nations allowing some leaders to propose that middle powers could be important players in ameliorating threats of war between the post-War superpowers. The concept of awkward partners in regional politics is also examined, adapting George’s account of Britain relationship with Europe to an analysis of Australia’s relations with its Asian neighbours.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A li is a measure of distance, roughly equivalent to about 4.8 kilometres. In Mencius’ estimation, a ‘big’ fiefdom would be some 500 square kilometres or more in area. His middle-sized fiefdoms would be up to about 300 square kilometres in area. He is writing in the context of the many fiefdoms and semi-autonomous territories within what today we call ‘China.’ Some were governed by mini-emperor systems, others by warlords. In Mencius’ time (as in Confucius’ time) there was endemic warfare between these territories.

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  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Allan Patience

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Patience, A. (2018). Middle Powers and Awkward Partners. In: Australian Foreign Policy in Asia . Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69347-7_2

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