At a time when the international order is in crisis, high on the list of uncertainties is the place of China in any re-orientation of international relations and long-established multilateral institutions – the UN at their disappearing centre.

Given this, we need to ask: what role will Australia play in the future of the international order? This has long seemed an unlikely question because Australia is a middle-power rather than a major player.

Also, Australian populations and governments, to the extent they think about this at all, are accustomed to believe that they act in accord with the principles of international law that have governed international politics since the nineteenth century, if more by convention rather than compliance. Recent developments suggest any complacency is misplaced.

This week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the missing leader at the most significant global climate summit since Kyoto - at least in terms of public profile. He had put his eggs in the US basket, at a time when the US President was busy scrambling a message that the two camps shaping the future were ''global elites'' and ''patriots'', and that he stood firmly against ''globalists''.