This video recorded at ANU on the 6th of August 2015 seeks to broadly canvass the impact of the 1970s era on Australian foreign policy. It explores why this decade was so significant for Australian policy. It covers some of the key personalities and events in the period, the leading ideas and arguments, the way this decade shaped the following eras and concludes by examining whether there are any parallels for today. 

Moderated by

Dr Andrew Carr, author of Winning the Peace: Australia's campaign to change the Asia-Pacific.

About the speakers:

Dr James Curran teaches courses in Australian political culture and foreign policy and the history of America's relations with the world. In 2013 he was the Keith Cameron Professor of Australian History at University College Dublin, and in 2010 held the DFAT/ Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Australia-US Alliance Studies at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His most recent book, funded by an ARC Discovery Project, explores the history of the Australia/US Alliance in the age of Richard Nixon and Gough Whitlam. Unholy Fury: Nixon and Whitlam at War, published by Melbourne University Press (MUP) in May 2015. Prior to joining academia, Dr Curran served in various roles in the Australian Public Service, including in the Prime Minster's Department and the Office of National Assessments.

Dr John Blaxland is a Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU who writes about military history, intelligence and security and Asia-Pacific affairs. He is the editor of East Timor Intervention (MUP, 2015), and author of the second volume (The Protest Years, A&U, 2015), and co-author of the third volume (due 2016) of the official history of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. In 2014 he was awarded a Minerva Research Initiative grant for a project entitled 'Thailand's Military, the USA and China: Understanding how the Thai Military Perceives The Great Powers and Implications For the US Rebalance'. He is a former Director Joint Intelligence Operations (J2), at Headquarters Joint Operations Command and was Australia's Defence Attache to Thailand and Burma from 2008-2010. His publications include The Australian Army From Whitlam to Howard (CUP, 2014). Strategic Cousins (2006), Revisiting Counterinsurgency (2006), Information era Manoeuvre (2002), Signals (1999) and Organising an Army (1989).