Howard's colonial mentality creates an Australian identity crisis

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard has reignited the decades-old debate about his country's place in the world with comments interpreted as unfriendly by Asian neighbours.

Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia have been most vocal about Mr Howard's remarks on domestic radio last Sunday, in which he said Australia might have to resort to pre-emptive military strikes against terrorist targets to ensure national security.

In the wake of the October Bali bombings, which killed 90 Australians, the government has imposed a state of alert and, to heated criticism from Asian nations, warned its citizens to avoid the region.

Australian international schools in Indonesia were temporarily closed and the Australian Embassy in Manila was shut down because of unspecified threats.

But observers believe the matter goes beyond Australia's security. They say Mr Howard's comments reflect his inability to break from a colonial mentality, despite decades of Asian immigration and the region's economic growth.

Australia is geographically isolated and its British settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries certainly felt that detachment. A policy after World War II of opening up to European immigrants has meant that subsequent generations have turned to Europe ahead of the rest of the world. American culturalism has also created a close affinity to the United States.