Or so, due to his humorless if competent nature, his peers had dubbed him. More likely we'll be hearing him referred to as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as he will be replacing Bush favorite, John Howard.
Contrary to his predecessor's policies he's promised to take immediate action on the environment and will be signing the Kyoto Protocol. He seems just as adamant about pulling Australia's 500 soldiers out of Iraq. This, no doubt, will cause something of a cooling in Oz/US relations.
BBC has a profile on Prime Minister Elect Rudd here.
The Strategist has examined Rudd's National Security Policy and politics in the past and will likely have a much better informed analysis on what Rudd's leadership and Howard's departure will mean to the region.
11 years ago
5 comments:
Thanks for the kind mention (I think...looks like I'll have to write a post on Dr Death's rise).
"I think...looks like I'll have to write a post on Dr Death's rise"
Heh. And I'll ping you daily with inquiring emails with "looking forward to the post," "say, where's that post," "remember the post," in the subject line!
Kidding of course though any thoughts you can spare on the subject would be read with interest. Rudd seems to be quite the 180 from Howard on many different levels. I don't think the leadership shift has been given enough informed analysis here in the US beyond that of Iraq and the Kyoto Protocol.
One of the really fascinating things about Rudd is that he is a fluent Mandarin speaker (an ex Australian diplomat, he was posted for a time in Beijing). This must surely be a first for a western head of state.
Jay - haven't forgotten about this. Am working on a post now, but because I'm not as familiar with Rudd as, say, with Howard, I'm doing a fair bit of background reading.
Pete,
Hey, thanks for taking the time! Looking forward to the post.
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