Free Preview of Members-Only Content
To view the requested intelligence, you must be a Stratfor.com member.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is preparing for an 18-day visit to the United States, Europe and China. Ahead of his travels, Rudd spoke in Sydney on March 26 at the East Asia Forum, an event organized by the Australian National University. In his speech, Rudd said the world could expect to see “an increasingly activist Australian international policy” over the coming years. He added that foreign political, economic and security policy should be seen as an extension of Australia’s domestic national interests, not “some sort of policy exotica.”
Australia is not alone among middle powers in promising a more active foreign policy as the world adjusts to the post-post-Cold War order.
Rudd’s travels will take him to Washington and New York to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and members of the U.S. administration and Congress. In London, Rudd will meet government and economic officials, and will travel to Brussels, Belgium, for the NATO summit. And in China, Rudd again will meet with government and economic officials.
| Stratfor Members, please log in at the top left hand corner |
