Australians must start 'thinking like hawks, while moving like doves', James Brown asserts in his viscerally illustrated but poorly argued Firing Line: Australia's path to war. Amid a darkening security outlook – subtext: a rising China – Australia must awaken from its complacency and foster a new national strategy based upon genuine and informed debate about war and our place in the world. Unfortunately, Brown undercuts his reasonable pro-position by insinuating that this debate must result in a deeper dependence on the United States.