Re-engaging Europe: Assessing Rudd's European diplomacy

Abstract

This paper seeks to critically assess the Rudd government’s promise of a new era of creative engagement between Australia and the EU. In order to do so, it first places Rudd’s ‘new’ era of engagement into historical context, providing an overview of Australia’s ‘old’ connections to, and relations with, Europe and examining the various responses of Australia’s post-war governments to European integration. In particular, the paper compares and contrasts Rudd’s European diplomacy with that of his predecessor, John Howard, in order to consider whether Rudd’s leadership represents something new, not just in terms of Australia’s relations with Europe, but in terms of its global engagement and political paradigm more broadly.