Public Communication on Nuclear Deterrence and Disarmament: The Challenge for Australia

‘Foreign policy doesn’t lend itself to clear storytelling. Much of its work is elusive and incremental and happens behind closed doors and over time. It’s the work of persuasion.’¹ These are the words of Allan Gyngell, president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and author of Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942. As someone who has spent most of his life behind the closed doors to which he refers, and who is now responsible for drawing the Australian public into debate on foreign and defence issues, he knows better than most the communication challenges that governments