Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

Wayne Reynolds

Wayne Reynolds

Wayne Reynolds teaches and researches on the history of Australia foreign policy and defence. He has written on nuclear weapons and regional defence.

Wayne Reynolds reviews ‘Understanding Peacekeeping’ by Alex J. Bellamy, Paul Williams and Stuart Griffin and ‘Other People’s Wars: A history of Australia’s peacekeeping’ by Peter Londey

October 2004, no. 265 01 October 2004
The end of the Cold War in 1991 sparked a great debate about the fate of the international order and, in particular, of the so-called Westphalian system in which nation-states were the main actors. Since the end of the bloody Wars of Religion in 1648, there has been, in short, a sort of understanding that the international system should concern itself with wars between states, not wars within stat ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews 'Fact or Fission? The truth about Australia's nuclear ambitions' by Richard Broinowski

February 2004, no. 258 18 September 2024
Richard Broinowski, a retired senior diplomat who has served in seven legations, three as ambassador, has long been interested in matters nuclear, as this excellent work demonstrates. Broinowski traces Australian nuclear developments from the early days of World War II to the most recent developments under Prime Minister John Howard. In the process, he chronicles Australian nuclear ambitions, from ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews ‘Beyond belief: The British bomb tests: Australia’s veterans speak out’ by Roger Cross and Avon Hudson

November 2005, no. 276 01 November 2005
Beyond Belief is yet another account of the atomic tests that were conducted in Australia between 1952 and 1962. It does not deal with nuclear strategy, the technical aspects of nuclear weapons or their delivery systems. It is weak on secondary sources, and there is no reference to archival records. The absence of footnoting makes it of limited use for detailed scholarship. It relies to a great ex ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews 'Hiroshima: The world’s bomb' by Andrew J. Rotter

July–August 2008, no. 303 01 July 2008
Andrew Rotter does not usually write about nuclear weapons. The Colgate University Charles A. Dana Professor of History is known for his works on twentieth-century American diplomatic history. He was approached, ‘out of the blue’, by David Reynolds in the summer of 2001, just before the attack on the Twin Towers. Reynolds, well known for his writings on the so-called ‘special relationship’ ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews ‘Imposing Peace and Prosperity: Australia, Social justice and Labour reform in occupied Japan’ by Christine de Matos

April 2009, no. 310 01 April 2009
In 2004, the year after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Stefan Halper, a senior diplomat who had served Republican administrations from Nixon to Reagan, published America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order, a celebrated and scathing critique of the neo-conservative influence on George W. Bush’s foreign policy. It was different after World War II, thought Halper, when US forces were w ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews 'Fact or Fission?' by Richard Broinowski

February 2004, no. 258 01 February 2003
Richard Broinowski, a retired senior diplomat who has served in seven legations, three as ambassador, has long been interested in matters nuclear, as this excellent work demonstrates. Broinowski traces Australian nuclear developments from the early days of World War II to the most recent developments under Prime Minister John Howard. In the process, he chronicles Australian nuclear ambitions, from ... (read more)

Wayne Reynolds reviews 'Maralinga: Australia’s nuclear waste cover-up' by Alan Parkinson

October 2007, no. 295 01 October 2007
This is a timely book. Alan Parkinson argues that the Howard government, which is on the verge of committing Australia to a future in which nuclear power will play a major role, cannot be trusted with the implementation of such an undertaking. A key part of a nuclear programme will be the disposal of nuclear waste, including high-level toxic wastes which will have to be encased in safe storage for ... (read more)