USSC Live – Details, episodes & analysis

In 2017, the first Donald Trump administration revived the Quad partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States after years of inactivity. Now, as the second Trump administration begins to take shape, the Quad continues to enjoy bipartisan support in all four countries and it seems the grouping is here to stay.

The partnership has become a key pillar of diplomatic architecture in our region. But despite this goodwill and strong foundation, the Quad has sometimes struggled to articulate a clear mission, and its future agenda will need to deliver meaningful impact in the Indo-Pacific.

The United States Studies Centre hosted a public panel event following a day of closed-door discussions at the Quad Leadership Track-1.5 Dialogue. Panelists answered key questions facing the Quad on topics such as critical technology, climate and the energy transition, and maritime security, and discussed the future of the Quad partnership itself as a new US presidential administration prepares to take office.

The event featured leading experts on the Quad, including USSC CEO Dr Michael Green, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr Lavina Lee, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nonresident Scholar, South Asia Program Darshana Baruah and Aoyama-Gakuin University Lecturer Dr Takuya Matsuda in conversation with Matthew Knott, Foreign Affairs and National Security Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age discussing the Quad's challenges, possible solutions, opportunities for collaboration and the Quad's future agenda.

The Indian Ocean Region brims with economic promise, yet it faces growing challenges — from inadequate infrastructure to fierce geoeconomic competition. As China deepens its presence through the Belt and Road Initiative, Australia and India are poised to offer a resilient and strategic alternative.

This event featured inaugural Maitri Fellow Riya Sinha in conversation with USSC Economic Security Director Hayley Channer, discussing opportunities for India and Australia to collaborate on Indian Ocean port linkages, supply chains and sustainable development.

They discussed practical ways to create a competitive edge that not only advances each country’s interests but also benefits the broader regional landscape.

Riya Sinha's Maitri Fellowship is generously supported by the Centre for Australia-India Relations (CAIR).

On 19 and 20 June 2024, the United States Studies Centre hosted a major international conference in Sydney spotlighting the search for “economic security in a turbulent world”. Over a day and a half, the conference brought together leading policymakers, business executives and independent experts from around the world to discuss arguably the defining economic policy debate of our age – how to reconcile security and prosperity in an era of strategic competition and economic interdependence.

Session 6 was delivered in four parts:

• A keynote address by The Honourable Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (by video-link);
• An address on "A view from East Asia" by Professor Myung-hee Yoo, Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University and former Minister for Trade, Republic of Korea;
• A panel discussion moderated by Dr John Kunkel, Senior Economics Adviser at the United States Studies Centre. with expert comments from George Mina, Deputy Secretary, Trade and Investment Group, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Alan Beattie, Senior Trade Writer, Financial Times; and Professor Myung-hee Yoo, Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University and former Minister for Trade, Republic of Korea; and
• An address on "Europe’s economic security strategy: A view from Brussels" by Denis Redonnet, Deputy Director-General and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, Directorate-General for Trade, European Commission (by video link).

As a refugee from South Vietnam when he was four years old Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen’s work explores the convergence between politics and literature. The Sympathizer, his thriller about a communist double-agent won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2016. The United States Studies Centre was honoured to have Professor Nguyen deliver the first-ever American Cultures Lecture. The lecture by Aerol Arnold Chair of English at the University of Southern California Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen was followed by a conversation moderated by USSC Associate Professor of Politics and American Studies Brendon O'Connor. Viet Thanh Nguyen is a University Professor, Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America (Oxford University Press, 2002) and the New York bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer (Grove Atlantic, 2016). His latest book is The Committed, the sequel to The Sympathizer, published by Grove Press in March 2021.

As it celebrates its 70th anniversary, the Australia-US alliance continues to evolve in response to a changing regional context in the Indo-Pacific. How do Australia’s neighbours in Southeast Asia understand the purpose of the alliance in 2021? Is the alliance seen as limiting Australia’s autonomy, or enhancing its influence? Is the alliance seen as distracting Australia from engaging its neighbours, or as contributing to regional security? This event explored how various trends, including the emergence of a more regionally assertive China and the development of networked security arrangements, have affected regional perceptions of ANZUS and its role in Australian foreign policy. Hosted by Susannah Patton, Research Fellow in the United States Studies Centre's Foreign Policy and Defence Program, this webinar featured perspectives from three leading Southeast Asian foreign and defence policy experts: Sarah Teo, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Regional Security Architecture Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; Evan A. Laksmana, Wang Gungwu Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore; and Shahriman Lockman, Director in the Chief Executive's Office of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia.

2020 will be remembered as one of the most tumultuous years in American history. COVID-19 tested every country, every government and every political leader in the world. But with the pandemic arriving as Donald Trump launched his campaign for re-election, the world watched aghast as the United States lost more than 500,000 of its citizens to COVID. From hydroxychloroquine and bleach, to making hostility to masks and social distancing emblems of partisanship, Trump’s last year as president was marked by incompetence, tragedy and ultimately, a violent test of American democratic institutions and social cohesion. How did the government of the world’s most powerful nation get so much so wrong? Who were the voices around Trump during this momentous year? And where to from here, not just for the United States, but for close allies such as Australia? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar discussion with The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, authors of the new book and New York Times #1 best seller I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year, in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman and Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe.

The United States Studies Centre and Perth USAsia Centre host a monthly web series reviewing the latest in US politics and policy and what this means for Australia. This month our guest was Ambassador Jane Hardy, who has joined the United States Studies Centre as a Visiting Senior Fellow from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She most recently served as Consul-General in Honolulu from 2018 to 2021 during which time she led Australia’s engagement with US Indo-Pacific Command. Ambassador Hardy joined hosts United States Studies Centre Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Ashley Townshend and Perth USAsia Centre CEO Professor Gordon Flake for a discussion on the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy.

The United States Studies Centre and Perth USAsia Centre host a monthly web series reviewing the latest in US politics and policy and what this means for Australia. This month hosts Simon Jackman and Gordon Flake were joined by guests Dr Victoria A. Farrar-Myers, a dedicated civic leader, an award-winning educator and a distinguished scholar; and Professor Valerie Hudson, the George H.W. Bush Chair in the Department of International Affairs at The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, where she directs the Program on Women, Peace, and Security. She will join hosts Simon Jackman and Gordon Flake to discuss the latest in US politics and policy.

Cybersecurity, defence innovation and climate change in the military are all on the agenda for NATO’s Brussels Summit on 14 June. But with NATO placing unprecedented attention on the Indo-Pacific, what are the summit’s implications for Australia? What will NATO's defence innovations mean for the Indo-Pacific? How can Australia work with NATO to strengthen cyber defences? USSC hosted a webinar event with NATO’s Director for Security Policy and Partnerships Directorate, Political Affairs and Security Policy Division James Mackey in discussion with USSC Lecturer and NATO Defense College Partners Across the Globe Fellow Dr Gorana Grgic. Jointly presented by the United States Studies Centre (USSC) and NATO Public Diplomacy Division; this event was part of a series of talks with USSC and NATO experts in which they explore the challenges ahead of NATO and Australia and propose areas where furthering and deepening cooperation can offer solutions.

No campaign promise, rumour mill or day one executive order is as revelatory of a US president’s strategic intentions than the men and women they trust to guide them. A president’s Cabinet and key policy advisors have the extraordinary power of controlling the day-to-day decisions of the federal government. In essence, ‘personnel is policy’ and, as such, the key players of the Biden administration say a lot about the next four years of American politics. How does Antony Blinken’s upbringing by refugees inform the Biden administration Middle East policy? Why is John Kerry seemingly the only household name of the president’s many advisors? Which names does Australia need to know? At this webinar, United States Studies Centre Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe and Research Associate Victoria Cooper — author of Key players in the Biden administration — discussed these questions and more with host and USSC Senior Research Fellow Jared Mondschein.