The Odd Couple: the Australia-America Relationship. By Allan Behm. (Upswell Publishing). ISBN: 978-0-6452479-9-2.
Allan Behm’s undertaking of the odd couple relationship that characterizes the Australia-American relationship is refreshing and bold. Australia’s foreign policy is in trouble, and its greatest friend may be its biggest challenge. (The Australian Institute for International Affairs.)
I have made it a rule of my reviewing across the years that I do not review the books of my friends. How could I possibly be impartial? I have known and admired Allan Behm since I first met him in 1963. I make an exception here to my rule because I think that this is such an important book that it deserves the widest possible dissemination. If I can contribute to that in even the smallest possible way I will be pleased.
Behm had a distinguished career in the Australian Public Service, principally in Foreign Affairs and Defence. He was also Chief of Staff to Climate Change and Industry Minister Greg Combet, then Chief of Staff to Shadow Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong. He is now Director of the International and Security Affairs Program at the Australia Institute (“research that matters”).
You will never die wondering what Allan Behm thinks, and in this book he does not hold back. Behm on baby-boomers (pleasingly neither Allan nor I are boomers): “one of the most cynical, grasping and self-absorbed generations in history . . . they have in reality bludged on the energies and imaginations of their parents.” You see what I mean?
One of the central arguments of this book is that Australia is looking the wrong way. While the nation cowers in terror about the possibility of war with China, the real problem lies elsewhere. What should be focussing the attention of Australian politicians, planners, strategists, thinkers, and the military is more immediate.
This is the possible collapse of the social, political, and economic fabric of the United States of America. The stresses and strains on America are examined in forensic detail. Behm sees a deeply divided society, at risk of disintegrating, a racial divide that has never been addressed, a politics that is so much at war with the “other side,” and an inequality of wealth in society that risks fracturing the slight cohesion that still exists. It is a sobering and depressing account.
“On whom would Australia depend,” Behm writes, “if it could not depend on America? That is the question that Australia cannot answer, and that it cannot bring itself to contemplate. Without America, Australia would be alone, adrift on its continent in a region that it does not understand and with which it has no affinity.”
Another important theme in the book is the fearfulness of Australia’s political leadership across generations. While this might seem in conflict with what I have just quoted, it is not. Behm argues Australia has always approached America as a weakling supplicant, seeking to interest and placate its protector while aware of the conflicting and awesome responsibilities of the world’s only superpower. Australia’s reflex position is demeaning and unnecessary..
Behm discovers that far from “punching above its weight,” an expression he detests, Australia is, in fact, a middle-ranked power, with significant strengths which he discusses at some length. True, America’s GDP is about twenty times Australia’s, and its population is about thirteen times greater. That’s a given, but it is not the end of the argument, rather only the beginning of a serious accounting of Australia’s achievements and advantages. This way of seeing Australia is far from common. We should, must, walk taller, he says.
Much of the book is taken up with examining the interactions, over time, of the American and Australian people and the similarities between our two societies. While Americans are more religious and Australians more secular, we share similar values and beliefs on so much that is important. We value democracy, even though the American version is not ours and much less functional, intellectual discourse, the value and dignity of the individual, up to a point, and the importance of education and learning for all.
Both societies, Behm argues with considerable insight, have never come to terms with the massive theft of the lands on which we live and the genocide which accompanied that theft. This is an enduring problem for both nations which must be addressed. Though Behm does not say this explicitly, would it be possible for both nations to try to work together on implementing massive change? Behm, correctly in my view, sees overwhelming racism at the core of both societies and, appropriately, he does not articulate how this might be defeated in either America or Australia.
There is a great deal of history in this book. Modestly Behm has always refused to see himself as a historian, because he has not had higher-level historical training. Well, on the evidence of this book, I don’t agree. Perhaps he has missed his calling. I find his historical knowledge extensive, quirky in parts, accurate, and refreshing. Two of the finest chapters in this book come towards the end, one on “War,” one on “Peace.” They are both heady stuff which should call for serious reflection.
Correctly Behm finds Australians, specifically Billy Hughes and Bert Evatt, brash in supporting Australia’s national interests at the end of each world war. In those conflicts Australia had suffered grievously, believing that sacrifice gave it a right to contribute to establishing a new world order. Since then, Behm finds, Australia has been deft, annoyingly to Americans, at “talking the talk” but not “walking the walk.” How, readers might ask, did Australia get away with it? Our contributions to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while talked up big, were miniscule. This is a discussion where some Australian humility might be in order.
And finally. Allan Behm shows an intolerance for sloppy, fatuous language which characterises, he writes, many of the exchanges between American presidents and Australian prime ministers. “All the way with USA” (I remember it as Harold Holt’s “All the way with LBJ – but perhaps later prime ministers broadened it) strikes him as the epitome of the grovel. How, he asks, can Australia’s leaders so demean themselves? “Friendship – deep and abiding” and “special relationship” also cause Behm to grind his teeth.
This is because Behm uses words so effectively himself. This book is a pleasure to read. It is clear, immensely logical, forthrightly argued. Behm is a conversational writer. He loves asides, subtle but effective jokes which lighten the load of his very grim commentary, and word games.
There is so much of importance in this book. As Australians look with astonishment at the shenanigans of Donald Trump in the current presidential campaign, they ask themselves, it seems to me, “he can’t possibly win, can he?” Allan Behm explains with clarity and deep concern the danger of the situation. Trump will end the Russian war in Ukraine in a matter of days once he takes up the reins again. He will probably implement Project 25. The world will instantly become a more dangerous and a more unstable place.
Spelling this out, and showing the divergence and the commonality of the “odd couple” is a work as necessary as it is important. I’m delighted to find Allan Behm at the top of his form. This book should find a wide readership and adds great understanding to the current circumstances of both nations. The Odd Couple is a book to savour. Its major themes will be debated for a long time yet.
This is a book review of Allan Behm’s The Odd Couple: the Australia-America Relationship (Upswell Publishing). ISBN: 978-0-6452479-9-2
Michael McKernan is an historian and writer with extensive experience in teaching and research, management, the media and the practical presentation of history.
