ABSTRACT
Pezzullo went beyond sentiments expressed by Peter Dutton, the new minister of defence, who has talked of a heightened risk of war with China, but the two statements can be read together. Scaremongering is well known in Australian politics, as elsewhere, as a means of diverting attention from domestic policy failings and exploiting the intuitive insecurities of the electorate. Several strategic realignments since 1945 might be considered more consequential, and in many respects more war-inducing, than current trends seem to indicate. The 1970s also saw the re-emergence of Japan as a great power, albeit a mainly economic one with small and essentially defensive military forces. Finally, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, detente flickered out and the United States and the Soviet Union returned to pitched military confrontation, both engaging in massive military build-ups and increasing global confrontation thorough proxy activities.
