The Australians at Geneva

Internationalist Diplomacy in the Interwar Years

James Cotton

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English

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRES
01 November 2022

History; Australasian & Pacific history; International relations; Diplomacy

Can Australians find their feet within the world's diplomatic manoeuvring?

After the dubious justice of the Treaty of Versailles and the turmoil of the interwar years, the League of Nations is mainly remembered as a body that failed to create mechanisms that might have forestalled the horrors of Nazism, fascism and World War II. It has understandably been overshadowed by the United Nations-that larger, more globally representative body that grew from the League and was founded on more unequivocally noble principles in the aftermath of a clear-cut victory of good over evil.

But as the limitations of the United Nations become ever more apparent, we can look with more sympathy at the League and consider what we might learn from the endeavours of those driving this first attempt at global governmental coordination.

As James Cotton relates in this illuminating account, a surprising number of Australians lent their talents and enthusiasm to this internationalist project, and Australian interests were prominently represented. Former Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was there, along with numerous other Australian men and women who made important contributions to international deliberations on questions of global organisation and interaction. This deeply researched and carefully realised story will recast understandings of both the League itself and the place within it of prominent interwar Australian internationalists.

By: James Cotton
Imprint: MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRES
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 362g
ISBN: 9780522878998
ISBN 10: 0522878997
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 November 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

James Cotton (PhD, London School of Economics) is Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of New South Wales, ADFA, Canberra, and the author of The Australian School of International Relations (2013) and Australia and the United Nations (2012), among numerous other works. He has had academic appointments in the US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as Australia, is a past editor of The Australian Journal of International Affairs and was a foundation member (1997-2003) of the Foreign Minister's Advisory Council, convened by the Foreign Minister of Australia.