Mr. World: Kevin Rudd

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Photograph for TIME by David Dare Parker

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It makes you wonder: can a nation really welcome being economically yoked to China if it also sees Beijing's ambitions as a threat? In a recent speech on Australian foreign policy, Turnbull questioned whether it was possible to satisfy both of the Pacific's superpowers. "The risk of representing oneself as some kind of trans-Pacific interlocutor," he said, "is that one will be perceived by the Americans as overly sympathetic to China and by the Chinese as a bearer of other people's missions, rather than an advocate of one's own."

It's a fair warning. As any man who wants to enjoy the favors of both a wife and a lover will tell you, it will not be a snap for Australia to stay on good terms with both China and the U.S. The global economy may have joined those two nations at the hip, but it is easy to see how they could be at odds on a host of other issues. Indeed, even as Rudd talks about the inevitable dawn of an Asia-Pacific century with China at its helm, he is careful not to describe the new era as a zero-sum game in which U.S. power is bound to wane. "America has a great history of reinventing itself," he says. "I'm an unapologetic supporter of the United States ... because America is an overwhelming force of good for the world." In an early sign of goodwill, in April Rudd announced that Australia would send an extra 450 soldiers to Afghanistan — where it already had 1,100 troops serving — even as he began fulfilling an election pledge to pull Australian troops from Iraq.

(See the special report: Australian Journey.)

Still, as his defense white paper makes clear, Australia can no longer be confident that it can rely forever on American military protection, as it has since the alliance was forged in some of the most terrible fighting of World War II. The U.S. has many calls on its resources, and Australia is a rich country that can help its allies by helping to look after itself. While in Perth, Rudd visited a navy base where the H.M.A.S. Collins submarine had docked. Descending into the claustrophobic space, Rudd gave a pep talk to seamen who often spend three months at sea in the cramped capsule. As he traveled the world, he said, foreigners, whether American or Canadian or British, always had the most complimentary things to say about the Australian Defence Force. Egos were stroked, but Rudd seemed to be sending another message to the submarine crew: at the dawn of this new century, as a country and a continent unto itself, Australia has to define its security on its own terms.

There's a lesson there for other medium-sized powers. It is surely one that the rich nations of Western Europe, which at times carry themselves as if someone else will always look after their defense, could take more seriously. In the meantime, Rudd will continue with his multilingual diplomacy, trying to convince other world leaders that his pet idea of an Asia-Pacific Community won't just add to the alphabet soup of regional forums that litter the calendar with ineffectual meetings.

On the flight back east from Perth, Rudd glances at the necktie that he has cast aside before landing in Melbourne, where he will deliver another slew of speeches. He rubs his eyes, then launches into a defense of international activism. "You can sit around quietly on the global diplomatic circuit and get nowhere," he says, "or you can ball up a few ideas, some of which have some prospects." It's not a bad blueprint for any nation navigating a place in this globalized world. Makes you wonder whether Australia couldn't export that having-a-go spirit along with its iron ore, coal and gas. The world might be better for it.

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