“Lest We Forget”: The Politics of Memory and Australian Military Intervention1

Abstract

In justifying participation in military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the “war on terror,” Australian Prime Minister John Howard invoked the memory of Australian sacrifice in war, linked most prominently to the so-called “Anzac myth.” This paper explores the role of memory politics in enabling military intervention, discussing in the process the relationship between sites and forms of remembrance and broader discourses of national identity. This use of collective memory has significant implications for debates about Australian identity, and suggests the need for approaches to the study of international relations to take seriously the role of memory politics in coming to terms with conditions of possibility for particular security policies and practices.