Implicated

Each book in the Australian Retrospectives series examines a formative issue in Australian history. Written as introductory texts for a non-specialist audience, the books provide a chronological history of the topic, backed by expert analysis and interpretation. Implicated, the second publication in the series, examines the involvement of the United States in Australia's economic, political, and cultural history. The US has not simply imposed on Australia a version of itself, nor has it made Australia a dependent, Americanised satellite. Rather, it is (and has been since well before federation) an ambiguous model for Australia - a promise as well as a threat. Despite the 'decline' of American power and the 'end' of the cold war, the implications of American power and example continue to colour Australia's political and social identity. This incisive, extensively researched study ranges widely across the many dimensions of Australia's interactions with the US, looking at the various ways the smaller nation negotiated military alliances, economic accommodations, and cultural meanings - and in doing so it challenges those who take refuge in comfortable anti-Americanism.