ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Australians and Indonesians inhabit different strategic spheres in the post-9/11 world. It belongs to a long tradition in the literature on Australia-Indonesia relations – what might be called the ‘discourses on difference’. The chapter identifies that distinct strategic spheres are a matrix imposed on the bilateral relationship by the constellation of international relations developed since 9/11. It also argues that the cooperation with Indonesia has been remarkable because of the very different ways the changes brought on the world by the 9/11 attacks have affected Indonesia and Australia. Alexander Downer thought the 1995 agreement’s provisions to consult and cooperate referred to an external threat, whereas the new Australian strategic focus was counterterrorism and stronger cooperation against Jemaah Islamiah and other terrorist groups in Indonesia. After 9/11 Australia and Indonesia have come to inhabit different strategic worlds, imposing a new level of complexity on the already volatile bilateral relationship.
