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In their book,Gridlock: why global cooperation is failing when we need it most, Hale, Held, and Young argue persuasively why post-World War II institutions delivered the global cooperation anticipated but ended up creating other serious problems for international society. They explain how the successes of earlier cooperation efforts produced greater multipolarity, institutional inertia, institutional fragmentation, and some difficult problems that, in turn, paved the pathways through which the governance gap between the multilateral system and global needs became wide. However, their book, whose thesis revolves around the nature and functions of global institutions, fails to define the term 'institution'. This essay argues that had the authors elaborated institutions, their argument would have been much stronger.

Australia's foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific region is primarily driven by self-interest. Australian prime ministers, foreign ministers, diplomats and other political leaders have asserted on various occasions that their goal in the region has always been to promote Australia's national interests while at the same time helping some of the states in the region meet some of their needs. However, Australia has not pursued self-interests to the exclusion of global values and norms. This article examines Australia's policy towards the Asia-Pacific region and explains how governments have tried to align national interests with global values in the region since the Cold War ended.