Australia: Visit defining

                                                                                             President Barack Obama will speak this week at a joint session of the Parliament of Australia, during a visit to the country to mark the 60th anniversary of the bilateral alliance known by its initials as ANZUS.
The security treaty signed by U.S., Australia and New Zealand (ANZUS) was signed in San Francisco in 1951, during the Cold War.From then until now, Australia has become one of the most loyal U.S. allies In fact, no other country has contributed more troops to fight shoulder to shoulder with Americans since the First World War.Although Obama's visit to the cities of Canberra and Darwin are expected to further strengthen the old friendship between the two countries, Geoffrey Garrett, chief of the U.S. Studies CentreUniversity of Sydney, believes that in addition set a turning point in American diplomacy."I think this trip will mean a strategic shift in U.S. foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and beyond the war on terrorism," he said.The expert believes that Australia is taking a bigger role in trade and regional security, in addition to cooperation with U.S. is "more open, high-level than does any other country in the world, with the possible exception of the United Kingdom."Obama is expected to announce plans for the deployment of U.S. Marines in northern Australia, a presence that raised concerns in China.Tom Switzer, University of Sydney Australia believes that diplomacy needs to balance its military and economic targets for the U.S., "China's rise is a geopolitical rival, but for Australia is its largest trading partner."According to Switzer, Australia faces the option to accommodate the U.S. security umbrella while expanding trade relations with China."That can be very difficult if there are tensions in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait. That can not be ruled out, "he said.Although the war in Afghanistan is deeply unpopular with many Australians, opinion polls indicate that the U.S. has broad support in the country's population, as revealed by a resident in Canberra, who in referring to President Obama said he appreciated " a lot. "She also appreciated that if you re-think "in the Second World War, without the Americans we would not have succeeded. We need some help. We are 22 million people, a small dot in the South Pacific. I really want them here to the U.S., any base who wish are welcome, "he admitted.Another citizen asked, however, said the relationship between Australia and the U.S. is "a bit overrated." "We align ourselves too closely with the United States. Do not really know if you have some benefit to Australia."Australia retains close cultural ties with Britain and its wealth depends increasingly on China, but successive Australian leaders have said that the most valuable thing that the country is its security alliance with the U.S.Barack Obama is the fifth U.S. president to visit Australia.