Just days before being elected prime minister, Tony Abbott was grappling with the question of Syria when he suggested Australia not forget its place in the world.
"We are a significant middle power but no more," the then opposition leader said.
"I don't think we should be getting ideas above our station."
His foreign policy objectives - "more Jakarta less Geneva" - prioritised diplomacy in Australia's backyard and was the polar opposite to the grandiose vision of his Labor predecessor Kevin Rudd.
But it's fair to say this comfortable vision of Australia, tucked away and insulated from the world's trouble spots, hasn't panned out.
For an unassuming so-called middle power at the bottom of the world, Australia has painfully learned that even if you don't go looking for trouble, sometimes it finds you anyway.
The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 tragically illustrates how a murky conflict far away can tear apart lives on the other side of the globe.
For many Australians, the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces wasn't on their radar until MH17 was shot out of the sky, killing 298 innocents - including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
And if ever a reminder was needed that distance doesn't necessarily protect from the horrors of war, an image this week of a young Australian boy holding the head of a Syrian soldier was it.
The gruesome photograph showed the seven-year-old boy, allegedly the son of convicted Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, struggling with boy arms to hold up the gory display.
There's been no shortage of videos and images posted online documenting the atrocities of fighters from the so-called Islamic State (IS) as they've swept across northern Iraq and Syria.
Some depict mass beheadings and floggings, others purport to even show crucifixions.
But social media and the attraction of global jihad means the barbarity of IS - also known as ISIS and ISIL - is no longer confined to the Middle East or shadowy corners of the internet.
The conflict had come home.
It's confronting but the image serves a useful purpose for the Abbott government as Australia finds itself grappling once again with the familiar post 9/11 challenges of terrorism and Iraq.
It was a case of deja vu at this week's Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations in Sydney, where the agenda wouldn't have been out of place had John Howard and George W Bush been at the table.
For the first time since withdrawing troops in 2011 the US was embroiled again in Iraq, launching airstrikes against IS targets in the north of the troubled country.
Australia, the trusted ally, was once again weighing its options.
ANU Professor John Blaxland said when it comes to Iraq, Australia has a "legacy issue".
"There's something about being drawn back to that place that is uncanny," he told AAP.
This time around there's no real question of putting boots on the ground, and Abbott has been at pains to stress Australia's contribution is humanitarian - not military.
It's air-dropped vital supplies to hundreds of families from the Yazidi sect trapped on Mount Sinjar and facing death at the hands of encircling IS militants.
"We're not trying to change a regime, we're not trying to establish democracy, we're not trying to uphold one set of values over another," Abbott told Australian troops stationed in the United Arab Emirates.
The desire for distinction between this operation and the 2003 invasion is transparent and understandable.
Abbott understands many Australians questioned the wisdom of getting involved in Iraq a decade ago, and is cool on the idea of Western interventions in other trouble zones like Syria.
But for Australia this time around the Iraq conflict has a different dimension, one much closer to home.
ASIO believes up to 200 Australians are fighting in Syria and Iraq.
By some measures, there are more homegrown jihadists in the Middle East from Australia than any other Western nation.
Even before the shocking image of Khaled Sharrouf's son was broadcast nationwide there were rumours Australians had been involved in atrocities on the battlefield from suicide bombings to beheadings.
This rams home the seriousness of the threat facing Australia if these radicals are allowed to return and the core reason Iraq cannot be ignored.
"It's not our backyard but it's got so many ramifications back home," Prof Blaxland said.
The government has announced a sweep of new counterterrorism laws to stop would-be jihadists from heading abroad to fight, including proposals to tear up passports and bolster surveillance powers.
With Abbott talking Iraq in London, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop hosting US Secretary of State John Kerry in Sydney, Australia's diplomatic woes with Jakarta seem a distant consideration.
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