ABSTRACT
With the acceleration of globalization and the increased influence of non-
state actors in international affairs, a new set of threats has emerged that
sit alongside the traditional security agenda focused on interstate conflict.
Conceptually located within the so-called ‘new’ or non-traditional secur-
ity agenda, these threats are characterized by their transnational and
intrastate effects, an emphasis on non-military responses and a reliance on
international cooperation to address them. As Alan Dupont notes, non-
traditional security threats are ‘complex, interconnected and multidimensional’ as well as ‘moving from the periphery to the centre of the
security concerns of both states and individuals’.1 In this context, they raise
important questions about Australia’s traditional security arrangements,
concluded primarily to deal with conventional security threats. Are they
sufficiently flexible to address non-traditional threats? Have new approa-
ches emerged and what are their characteristics? Is there a shared view
between Australia and its partners on perceptions and priorities towards
these ‘threats without enemies’?2 Taking Southeast Asia as its analytical focus, a region where Australia has abiding political, economic and
security interests, this chapter argues that the increased prominence of non-
traditional security threats such as drug trafficking, terrorism and illegal
people movements has prompted a shift in the form and content of Aus-
tralia’s security arrangements. On the one hand, to remain relevant in a
changed strategic environment the activities encompassed by traditional
security arrangements have been broadened. On the other hand, new fra-
meworks have been developed that are less formal in structure, more expansive in scope and broader in participation than traditional security
arrangements.
