Book Review: Turbulance
Written by: Duncan B. on 23 November 2025
The author Clinton Fernandes is Professor of International and Political Studies in the Future Operations Research Group at the University of New South Wales. He is the author of several books about Australia’s foreign relations.
In this book Turbulence- Australian Foreign Policy in the Trump Era, Fernandes tries to make sense of the chaos which Trump has caused in international relations since his election and analyse Trump’s attitude to three important geopolitical regions of the world.
Trump wants to maintain US global primacy over China and seeks economic control over it. Failing that, he wants economic separation from China. As for Europe, Trump wants a Europe that is economically and politically subordinate to the US and militarily dependent on the US so that he can influence Europe’s relations with China.
Trump’s goals in the Middle East are military dominance of the region and control of Middle Eastern oil. Trump protects Israel because Israel’s actions help support this goal. Israel also helps to protect Saudi Arabia and the other pro-US monarchies in the region.
Where does Australia fit into this scenario? Throughout the book Fernades makes the point that Australia’s policy is to demonstrate our relevance to the US. Ever since Prime Minister John Curtin’s “turn to America” in World War Two, Australia has loyally followed US foreign policy. Older Australians will remember with disgust Prime Minister Harold Holt’s “all the way with LBJ.”
Australia has joined the US in wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, and has been America’s faithful “deputy sheriff” in our region. Fernandes explains at length how the AUKUS Treaty ties us firmly to the US foreign policy and the US war machine. The ramifications of the AUKUS Treaty extend far beyond the nonsense about “nation building” that its proponents have tried to feed us. Turbulence is required reading for all Australians who want to know more about AUKUS.
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