Active Political, Social, Cultural, and Economic Environment
In order to understand the complexities of a country’s development and evaluate its prospects regarding its economic, social, and political well-being, a comprehensive analysis is typically needed. While the presence of external factors is also of essential significance, the resources available to state residents, as well as capacities that the state in question possess, play a nonetheless essential part in promoting further economic and sociocultural development. For Australia, the described factors have been quite positive over the past couple of decades, allowing the state to evolve and promote the sustainable use of its economic resources and other types of assets.
Political Stability and Instability Structure
When evaluating the factors that must have contributed to the current rates of political stability within Australia, one should mention the fact that it has not been significantly affected by the British colonialism. Due to the geographic location that complicated the process of colonialism, Australia had been isolated from the impact of the British rule for a while, which helped the state to develop its agency and start political changes within it s framework based on the unique factors attributed to its setting. Moreover, once getting rid of the British rule, Australia managed to establish relationships with other states on equal footing, which advanced its political performance to a significant extent. As a result, the current structure of political stability within Australia is quite resilient and strong, allowing the state to be flexible in its political interactions with foreign countries.
At the same time, the current situation observed within the political stance of Australia may come into question in the nearest future. Due to the rapidly changing dynamics of international relationships, Australia may need to revisit some of its current political standards and approaches to building economic and political relationships. Namely, the Australian government, as well as organizations involved in international trade, may introduce more accurate tools for political and financial forecasting. As Black explains,
Given the volatility of international relations, of environmental developments such as population growth, resource availability, global temperature change, and pandemics, and of other aspects of the future, such discussion may appear very problematic. 1
Thus, Australia will need to include precise tools for geopolitical analysis so that it could forecast; likely changes in the global economic setting and examine the available routes. For instance, the increase in China’s political and economic influence in the global setting is to be taken into consideration. Namely, Friedman explains that the recent change observed in the Chinese economic setting indicates that China is likely to become a strong economic partner for Australia in the future:
China has also emerged as a major industrial power in the last generation, with growth surpassing that of any other major economy in the world, although its economy is still far smaller than that of Japan or the United States. 2
Similarly, other Asian and South Asian countries that have been advancing in their economic and technological development represent a rather lucrative opportunity for Australia, which is why the state authorities need to encourage private and public sector to build connections with the specified states as well. At the same time, relationships must be maintained with European and the U.S. Although the present-day setting affected heavily by the coronavirus pandemic still represents a range of challenges, Australia has a plethora of opportunities to succeed.
Access to Strategic Human, Natural, and Economic Skill and Resources
Additionally, Australia has quite broad access to human, natural, and economic resources. Due to the rapid development within the Australian market, local businesses have been enjoying quite a range of opportunities. Moreover, since Australia has been a very popular tourist destination, it has gained quite a range of economic resources. 3
Access to Allies and Enemies
Examining the problems in the relationships between Australia and other countries, particularly, Europe and the U.S. will lead to the discovery that Australia has remarkably few political opponents. Granted that there is a plethora of economic rivals in the global market for Australia, the range of openly antagonistic relationships between Australia and other countries is surprisingly small. Indeed, considering the present political environment closely will show that Australia has no political opponents. The lack of conflicts with other state scan be ascribed to Australia’s geopolitical situation; namely, having been isolated form other states for quite a while due to its geographic location, Australia has not developed any antagonistic interactions with other countries. Therefore, Australia has virtually no enemies. However, even if it had, the immediate access to them would be fairly limited due to the problem of geographic location mentioned above.
In turn, the range of positive interactions that Australia has been enjoying in the global economic and political settings have been quite vast. With the rise in globalization and the development of opportunities for fast transfer of products and information globally, Australia has been participating in the global trade successfully. 4 Currently, Australia has well-established partnership-based trade relationships with the U.S., UK, South Korea, Japan, and China. Moreover, Australian has been participating in free-trade relationships with the U.S. and New Zealand, which has allowed it to expand its economic development extensively and create long and effective supply chains globally. Overall, Australia’s current ratio of enemies and allies in regard to its economic and political stance is beyond positive.
Supply Chains and Trade Routes
As emphasized above, Australia has well-developed supply chains due to its positive economic interactions with other states. To evaluate the efficacy and extent of development within Australia’s supply chains, one should consider the changes in the Australian GDP observed lately. According to the 2020 report, “In the most recent fiscal year, Australia’s exports amounted to $419 billion and its imports amounted to $395 billion, the equivalent of 22 and 21 per cent of total GDP respectively” (Ball, 2020, para. 4). Since the specified number exceeds the one observed the year prior in the Australian economic setting, the general trend within the Australian economic environment can be described as positive. 5
Similarly, with the increase in t opportunities for long-term transportation, Australia has expanded its trade routes, connoting to Asia, Europe, and the U.S. The specified change has made it possible for Australia to explore every single possibility for economic and political development.
Access to Energy, Commodities, and Technology
Finally, the extent of resources that Australia can utilize in order to boost its economic development must be evaluated. Due to its location and its geological nature, Australia is excessively rich in natural resources, which is why it has broad access to energy, commodities, and technology. Nevertheless, it is presently vital for Australia to retain its control over the extent of commodities and specialty energy and technology available to it. According to Friedman, any country depends heavily on the presence of vital resources and commodities, as well as communication technology that allows it to keep in touch with key trade partners and international allies: “Any interruption in the flow of commodities would be damaging. An extended interruption would be catastrophic.” 6 Therefore, Australia must maintain its current interactions with its overseas partners so that its global supply chain could function properly.