Dragons Down Under? : Examining Chinese-Australians role in determining Australia leaving the First Quadrilateral Security Dialogue as a case of alliance failure through Foreign Policy Analysis.

Abstract: To what extent can an ethnic minority influence the foreign policy of a democratic country towards their own ancestral homeland? This is a question that, in a both increasingly insecure and globalized world, becomes more and more important. This paper examines the role the Chinese-Australian minority had in the breakdown of the first Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Previous research has examined many variables in this matter, but the role of ethnic minority influence has not been studied. The aim of the paper is to examine said group’s role through Foreign Policy Analysis, as classical theories are ill suited for this particular case. Using a mixed method design, this paper examines four potential ways an ethnic group can influence foreign policy based on an established theory by Stephen M. Saideman. These four being: Media attention, acting as a voting bloc, corruption, and campaign finance. Which is operationalized by looking at Australian newspapers, donations during the 2008 election and statistics regarding the size of the Chinese-Australian minority. The results show that there is reason to assume that it is plausible that indirect influence could have existed from the group, but direct influence towards the government could not be determined to have happened.