Australia has played many roles in international affairs after World War Two by associating with many organisations which included the United Nations in UN conventions and peacekeeping courses, regional agreements which included the Colombo Plan and APEC and also East Timor.
The United Nations was established at the conclusion of World War Two to prevent war in the future and allow well being and freedom to all people. It is made up of representatives from all over the world. Australia was involved in the United Nations from their establishment. H.V Evatt who was an Attorney General and Minister for External Affairs in the Chifley government assisted to write
the charter of the United Nations. And also in 1948 and 1949 he was the first president of the United Nations General Assembly. In addition, Australia played major roles in a few military actions such as the Korean War (1950 - 1953) and in the First Gulf War which occurred in 1991. More recently, Australia has been involved in peacekeeping missions which included overseeing free elections in Cambodia in 1993, providing Somalia with food resources in 1994 and freeing East Timorese people from Indonesian gangs in 1999.
In recent years, Australia has had significant roles in military campaigns the United Nations have carried out. This included assisting to develop nations economically and socially. Australia had been elected multiple times to the board of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation also known as UNESCO. UNESCO provides educational facilities and technology to developing areas in the world and also preserves heritage sites.
Australia has had many regional agreements with nations in the Asia Pacific region. Australia belonged to an organisation named the Colombo Plan. They improve and the economical the social development of South East Asian and Pacific nations. Australia has now provided many resources that many struggling nations need like health, education, food and training programs. Another organisation Australia belongs to is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Group also known as APEC which was established in 1989. Its aims are to achieve free and open trade and investments among countries in the Pacific region which would reduce production costs and create many job opportunities and reduce the prices of goods and services in member states. Also APEC agreed to a propose by Australia which was to adopt a counter terrorism measure which was a system that would alert authorities of any suspicious travelers.
In conclusion, Australia played a major role in international affairs in the post war period by associating themselves with many organisations such as the UN, UNESCO and APEC. All these groups assisted many developing nations both economically and socially with Australia’s assistance.