The Politics of Police Diplomacy: The Australian Experience

By Dr Martin Hess

BOOK LAUNCH: Memorial Bookshop at the Australian War Memorial on Tuesday 20MAY25 at 1730hrs

To ensure inclusion on the door list for the book launch please RSVP to marhess@bigpond.com by Wednesday 30 April 2025.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the various types of international engagement involving the Australian Federal Police and the operational theatres where they have been deployed over a 60-year period. Notable examples include the 2002 Bali bombings, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July 2014, and Australia's police peacekeeping and capacity-development roles in Timor Leste, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the South West Pacific. Such operations and missions require high levels of international cooperation and depend heavily on extensive on-the-ground diplomacy. The book provides a thorough examination of these contributions, highlighting a form of Australian international engagement that has received significantly less attention than it warrants.

William Maley AM, Emeritus Professor of Diplomacy, The Australian National University