Blind Spot

Name: Blind Spot
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ISBN: 9781760645793

Southeast Asia and Australia's Future: #101 Quarterly Essay

Michael Wesley

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English

Black Inc
16 March 2026

International relations; Australian Society

Series: Quarterly Essay

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Australia has forgotten what keeps it safe. So argues Michael Wesley in this sharp and compelling essay about our place in the world.

Southeast Asia is the key to our national security and prosperity. If China dominates the region, as it plans to, Australia will be very vulnerable. So why are we following an American strategy that isolates and alienates us from our neighbours?

Wesley argues that the focus on AUKUS and sticking with Trump is a dangerous distraction. Whereas the United States has little at stake in Southeast Asia, Australia has everything to lose. How did our foreign policy elite become so wedded to the US worldview? What do our Southeast Asian neighbours have to tell us, if only we would listen? Blind Spot is a gripping essay about strategic folly and the future of our region.

""It should be clear that Australia has made the wrong bet- that relying on the US alliance to address the threat of a Chinese-centred Sphere of Deference on its northern doorstep has left it dangerously exposed and unprepared. If anything, Canberra's adherence to the US strategy has led to an increasing divergence of interests and perceptions between Australia and its neighbours. As a consequence, Australia is arguably at an all-time low in its ability to shape events and attitudes in Southeast Asia.""-Michael Wesley, Blind Spot

By: Michael Wesley
Imprint: Black Inc
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 167mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 186g
ISBN: 9781760645793
ISBN 10: 1760645796
Series: Quarterly Essay
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 16 March 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Michael Wesley's books include There Goes the Neighbourhood- Australia and the Rise of Asia and Mind of the Nation- Universities in Australian Life. He is Professor of Politics and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement) at the University of Melbourne and was formerly head of the Lowy Institute and dean of ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific.