‘The Birthplace of Australian Multiculturalism?’ Retrospective Commemoration,Participatory Memoralisation and Official Heritage

In Australia, the authorised heritage discourse contributes to shaping the stereotypically Australian. It actively engages in creating a contemporary national story which glosses over the more shameful or distasteful episodes and themes in Australian colonial and post‐colonial history which is presented as being by‐and‐large progressive and benign. While the process of forging national history has become more complex and increasingly fraught, given globalisation and the emergence of new histories, nation and nationalism remain culturally persistent. The turn to multiculturalism from the 1970s as the principal way of defining Australianness and the nation lead some conservatives in politics and the heritage industry to appropriate the new social history, using it to present diversity as an indicator of a fair and open society. In this process, both history—an evolving academic discipline—and the past—lived experience which has meanings and uses in the present—were transformed into heritage.     

Book reviews

Henry Albinski, The Australian‐American Security Relationship. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia and London, 1982, pp. x + 257. $29.95.

Desmond Ball (ed.), Strategy and Defence: Australian Essays. George Allen and Unwin Australia, Sydney, 1982, pp. 402, $24.95 (cloth), $12.95 (paper).

A.F. Madden and W.H. Morris‐Jones (eds.), Australia and Britain: Studies in a Changing Relationship. Sydney University Press in association with Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Sydney, 1980, pp. xvii + 195. $15.00.

John Robertson, Australia at War 1939–1945. Heinemann Australia, Melbourne, 1981, pp. xv + 269. No price given.

R.H. Mathams, Sub Rosa: Memoirs of an Australian Intelligence Analyst. George Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1982, pp. 127. $15.95 (cloth), $7.95 (paper).

James Michael, The Politics of Secrecy. Penguin, Harmonds‐worth, 1982, pp. 240. $7.95.

Leon Glezer, Tariff Politics: Australian Policy‐Making 1960–1980. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1982, pp. 360. $25.00.

K.J. Holsti, Why Nations Realign: Foreign Policy Restructuring in the Postwar World. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1982, pp. xi + 225. $49.95.

Andrew J. Pierre, The Global Politics of Arms Sales. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1982, pp. 311. $US26.00 (cloth), $US7.75 (paper).

Kim Richard Nossal (ed.), An Acceptance of Paradox: Essays on Canadian Diplomacy in honour of John W. Holmes. Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Toronto, 1982, pp. 202. $Can.13.50.

Mohammad Ayoob (ed.), The Politics of Islamic Reassertion, Croom Helm, London, 1981, pp. 298. $23.75.

Ervand Abrahamian, Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1982, pp. xiii + 561. $US58.50 (Cloth), $US 19.00 (Paper).

Donald N. Wilber, Iran Past and Present: From Monarchy to Islamic Republic (9th Edition). Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1981, pp. ix + 375. £4.90.

Fred Halliday, Threat From the East? Soviet Policy From Afghanistan and Iran to The Horn Of Africa. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1982, pp. 149. $4.95.

Rupert Lockwood, Black Armada. Hale and Ironmonger, Sydney, 1982, pp. viii + 352. $24.95 (cloth), $13.95 (paper).

Baladas Ghoshal, Indonesian Politics 1955–1959: The Emergence of Guided Democracy, K.P. Bagchi & Co., Calcutta, 1982, pp. 314. Rs 75.00.

David G. Marr, Vietnamese Tradition on Trial. 1920–1945. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1981, pp. xi + 468. $34.95.

Richard Storry, A History of Modern Japan. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1982, pp. 304. $5.75.

Terry Edward Macdougall (ed.), Political Leadership in Contemporary Japan. (Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies No. 1), Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1982, pp. xiii + 145. $US5.00.

John Creighton Campbell (ed.), Parties, Candidates and Voters in Japan: Six Quantitative Studies. (Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies No. 2) The Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1981, pp. viii + 169. $US5.00.

G. W. Breslauer, Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders: Building Authority in Soviet Politics. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1982, pp. xiii + 318. $39,95 (cloth), $18.95 (paper).

John Ardagh, France in the 1980s. Penguin Books, Harmonds‐worth, 1982, pp. 672. $10.95.

Terutomo Ozawa, Multinationalism, Japanese Style: The Political Economy of Outward Dependency. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1979, pp. xxiii + 289. £6.30.

Bertram Gross, Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America. M. Evans and Company, New York, 1980, pp. ix + 140. $19.25.

Michael Moynagh, Brown or White? A history of the Fiji sugar industry, 1873–1973. Pacific Research Monograph No. 5, Australian National University, Canberra, 1981. pp. xxi + 306. $9.00.

C. Whitehead, Education in Fiji: policy, problems and progress in primary and secondary education 1939–1973. Pacific Research Monograph No. 6, Australian National University, Canberra, 1981. pp. xix + 228. $9.00.

Timothy J. Macnaught, The Fijian Colonial Experience: A study of the neotraditional order under British colonial rule prior to World War II. Pacific Research Monograph No. 7, Australian National University, Canberra, 1982. pp. xvii + 203. $10.00.

Rolf Gerritsen, R.J. May and Michael A.H.B. Walter, Road Belong Development: Cargo Cults. Community Groups and Self‐Help Movements in Papua New Guinea. Australian National University, Department of Political and Social Change Working Paper No. 3, 1981, pp. ii + 117. $5.00.

R.J. May, National‐Provincial Government Relations in Papua New Guinea: Consultant's Report to the Committee to Review the Financial Provisions of the Organic Law on Provincial Government. Australian National University, Department of Political and Social Change Working Paper No. 4, 1981, pp. 57. $5.00.

Richard Newman, Workers and Unions in Bombay 1918–1929. A Study of Organisation in the Cotton Mitts. Australian National University Monographs on South Asia 6, Australian National University, Canberra, 1981, pp. xvi + 320. $10.00.

Eamon Murphy, Unions in Conflict. A Comparative Study of Four South Indian Textile Centres. 1918–1939. Australian National University Monographs on South Asia 5, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1981, pp. xii + 287. $10.00.

Marcus Franda, Bangladesh: the First Decade, South Asian Publishers, New Delhi in association with Universities Field Staff International, New Hampshire, 1982, pp. 335. No price given.     

‘A Local Terrorist Made Good’: the Callaghan government and the Arab–Israeli peace process, 1977–79

The British government had played an important role during the 1950s and 1960s as a mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict, most notably through the development of Project Alpha between 1954 and 1956, and through the negotiation of United Nations Security Council resolution 242 in 1967. Between 1977 and 1979, British Prime Minister James Callaghan played a supporting role to US President Jimmy Carter as he negotiated the Camp David Accords of 1978. Callaghan adopted a pro-Israeli stance, cultivating close relations with the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and defending Begin’s position over key issues, particularly his reluctance to remove settlements from the occupied territories. In this respect Callaghan’s government departed from established British policy, even abstaining over United Nations Security Council resolution 446 in March 1979 which condemned continuing Israeli settlement activity. This resulted in damage to Britain’s relations with moderate Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan.     

Searching for a Just and Lasting Peace? Anglo-American Relations and the Road to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 continues to rank as a key point of reference for the Arab-Israeli peace process. The resolution laid down a ‘land for peace’ formula for the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, under which Israel would withdraw from territories occupied during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War in exchange for full peace agreements with its Arab neighbours. This article analyses the Anglo-American diplomacy at the United Nations which led to the passing of the resolution. It argues that the policy-making of the Johnson administration was rendered incoherent by internal rivalries and disorganisation. US Ambassador to the UN, Arthur Goldberg, was perceived as excessively sympathetic to Israel by the Arab delegations. The British approach, by contrast, was perceived by all parties as more even-handed. The clear position adopted by Foreign Secretary George Brown on Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, together with the skilful diplomacy of the Ambassador to the UN, Lord Caradon, explains the British success in sponsoring Resolution 242. The episode holds broader lessons for the conduct of Anglo-American relations showing that Britain was better placed to achieve diplomatic success when it retained its freedom of manoeuvre in relations with the United States.     

Maritime Archaeology and Trans-Oceanic Trade: A Case Study of the Oranjemund Shipwreck Cargo, Namibia

Routine sand dredging for alluvial diamonds at Oranjemund on the southern coast of Namibia exposed remnants of a long forgotten Portuguese merchant ship believed to have wrecked in the 1530s. The rescue excavations yielded over 40 tons of cargo consisting of thousands of gold and silver coins, tons of copper and lead ingots, and large quantities of ivory together with food refuse, part of personal possessions and the superstructure of the ship. This paper discusses the cargo from the shipwreck. The varying provenances show that overland inter-and intra-regional networks fed into the maritime trade between Europe and the Indian sub-continent. As such, the wreck is a lens through which we can view what was happening on the seas as well as on land. Finally we consider wider issues raised by this discovery relating to the protection and management of such material wherever it may be found in future.     

‘A “Special Relationship” sometimes in spite of ourselves’: Britain and Jordan, 1957–73

In view of Britain's role in the creation and development of Jordan, bilateral relations in the wake of the Suez crisis are an important test case of its continuing engagement, not only in the Levant, but in the Middle East as a whole. This article shows that despite the far-reaching changes which took place in British foreign policy between 1957 and 1973, Britain retained a significant bilateral relationship with the Hashemite Kingdom. Through a comparison of the role of the Western powers in the 1958 and 1970 crises, and through an analysis of the key events of the intervening years, including the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, this article explores the dynamics of this persisting relationship. It shows that the initiative often came from the Jordanian side, with King Hussein particularly keen to involve both Britain and the United States in the September 1970 crisis as witnesses to his dealings with Israel.     

Shadreck Chirikure: Great Zimbabwe: Reclaiming a “Confiscated” Past

African Archaeological Review -