Allan Behm
No Enemies No Friends
Upswell Publishing, 2022
The orthodoxy that increased defence spending will deliver increased national security confirms the status quo. But it does not help us to deal with shocks and surprises. How should Australia re-calibrate its national security settings to deal with global disruption?
Australia’s cultural and historical experiences have shaped our security thinking. Our mindset is built around interlocking pathologies: racism, misogyny, isolation, insecurity, a brashness that masks a deep lack of self-confidence, and the perverse effects of the cultural cringe.
This book is not about why Australia has become so good at getting things so bad. Rather, it suggests we have every capability to improve. It is less a lamentation for what might have been than a meditation on how to learn sure-footedness in our international affairs, in a new and less predictable world. We need to maintain a credible defence force, and invest in diplomacy to reduce our dependence on military force and defence alliances. This is crucial for the maintenance of our long-term security and confidence to become a significant international actor.
Allan Behm has been thinking about international relations, national security and defence matters in the service of a strong democracy over his long career in public policy.
Shortlisted, 2022 Australian Political Book of the Year
“Deeply informed, finely written and passionate, Allan Behm’s No Enemies No Friends shows how much of Australia’s ability to successfully navigate an increasingly dangerous world demands that we look with the same sharp clarity at ourselves as at the world outside.”
About the Author
Allan Behm is Director of the International and Security Program at The Australia Institute, Canberra. Previously he held senior positions in the Attorney-General’s Department and in the Department of Defence. He was Chief of Staff to Greg Combet from 2009 to 2013, and more recently senior advisor to Senator Penny Wong. He has a significant publishing record in academic and professional journals, and is a respected commentator in both the electronic and print media.
