Nana Yamamoto I am honored to receive the 21st Pacific Basin Academic Grant from the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Foundation. When informed of the result, I was doubly delighted—first by the fact that my research proposal was recognized as a substantive study and second by the opportunity to conduct intensive research again in Australia, which made me all the more determined to complete this research as a Ph.D. dissertation as soon as possible. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the members of the Foundation and the Selection Committee for giving me this opportunity to pursue my research interests further. The purpose of this study is to reconsider Australia’s policy on security cooperation in the Cold War era, which has been characterized in most previous studies by the pursuit of the anti-Communist alliance with the United States. This study draws more attention to the fact that Australia constantly sought to enhance regional security cooperation beyond its role in the anti-Communist alliance. In particular, from the late 1960s through 1970s, Australia proposed and undertook a variety of arrangements for political/security consultation and modest defence cooperation with its neighboring countries in Asia and the Pacific, trying to build up sounder relations with them. This study intends to describe the development of Australia’s multiple alignments and examine Australia’s security objectives and regional views that shaped this policy orientation. Looking back on the days when I entered the graduate school, I remember the then growing policy concern with changing security environment after the Cold War, the renewed proposals for regional security cooperation among Asia Pacific countries, and the public attention to the future of defence exchange programs and the ASEAN Regional Forum. A deeper glance at the historical background led me to identify Australia’s close relation with these issues in the form of interesting proposals and repeated attempts at enhancing regional security, enticing me to choose it as the topic of my research proposal. Considering the process that has led me to where I am now, I feel privileged to have been surrounded by people who have allowed me to pursue my research interests in a truly inter-disciplinary spirit without any restraints. I am hoping for the days before too long that I will be able to develop this study into a full-fledged Ph.D. dissertation, and in doing so to express my profound gratitude to all who have rendered their support and encouragement to me through the years. Receiving this award gives me confidence that the goal is attainable and not too far off in the future.