On the eve of its February 2022 invasion, Russia conducted a massive cyber attack on Ukraine’s satellite communications that not only downed services in Ukraine, but the spill-over effects were also felt all across Europe. Two-and-a-half years later, what many saw as the first true cyber war in world history is now also characterised by disinformation warfare. At last month’s NATO’s Washington Summit, the allies doubled-down on a commitment to engage and work with partners in the Indo-Pacific, p...
Sep 03, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 183
The USSC hosted historians Frances Clarke , Michael Green , Michael McDonnell , and Kathryn Schumaker of the University of Sydney and the United States Centre for a lively discussion of Associate Professor Frances Clarke’s award-winning book, Of Age: Boy Soldiers and the American Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2024). Roughly ten per cent of all soldiers in the American Civil War were underaged. As Clarke and her co-author Rebecca Jo Plant reveal in Of Age, these boys and young men not only ...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 182
In his third run for the White House, Donald Trump’s hold over the Republican Party appears to be stronger than ever. Even his former rivals are rallying around him — and echoing Trump's signalling that he may not respect the election result in November. But Trump’s selection of a younger running mate in Ohio Senator JD Vance has ignited discussion about the future of the Republican party, the America First movement and American democracy itself. With a resurgent Democratic Party under Vice Pres...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 181
The 2024 US presidential race now looks dramatically different compared to just three weeks ago. Democrats will head into the party’s national convention with a new name at the top of the ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris, alongside her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. With less than 80 days until Americans head to the polls, all eyes will be on the Democratic National Convention to see how Democrats capitalise on this newfound momentum and navigate the fresh lines of a...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 180
The AUKUS countries are on the verge of an historic moment. Over the past twelve months, lawmakers and officials in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have made notable progress in harmonising their respective defence trade control regimes in the service of accelerating AUKUS technology cooperation. These reforms, once implemented, will mark a significant step towards the creation of a ‘defence free-trade zone’ between the three partners. At the same time, there is disagreement...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 179
As the United States heads towards one of the most consequential elections in its history, US allies and partners around the world are watching intense strategic competition play out between the United States and China. Against the background of the 2024 US presidential election, questions abound over the future of US leadership at home and abroad. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist David Sanger was one of the few journalists selected to ask President Biden a question in his press ...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 178
The 2024 US presidential election campaign is reaching fever pitch. Former president Donald Trump’s coronation as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention will make him the first major party candidate to be nominated for three consecutive elections in 80 years. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is consumed with speculation over whether President Joe Biden will make a last-minute withdrawal from the race. What are the key takeaways from the 2024 Republican Nati...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 177
Generative artificial intelligence has dominated headlines across the world for the past two years. Popular models include OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and image generators like Midjourney. However, generative AI sits at the intersection of several cross-cutting issues – from data governance and privacy to innovative capacity – that impact businesses, government and society at large. As a result, governments are tackling this challenge from very different directions. Why are governments so ...
Jul 16, 2024•56 min•Ep. 176
AUKUS is making waves internationally as an ambitious program of industrial integration, economic development, and strategic alignment between the US and two of its strongest allies. As other likeminded states in the Indo-Pacific consider their strategic options in a period of rapid geostrategic change, there is increasing discussion of expanding participation in AUKUS through formal and informal partnerships, demonstrated most clearly in a recent decision of the AUKUS defence ministers to consi...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 175
In 2024 we are once again faced with the prospect of either Joe Biden or Donald Trump back in the Oval Office. However, this time we have presidential track records to draw from as we prepare for the next administration. At this event, the United States Studies Centre launched its latest report Red Book | Blue Book 2024 , a guide for decision-makers regarding the next US presidential administration. Which policies will be most impacted by a change in leadership? What will a second Biden or Trump...
Jun 16, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 174
In 2024 we are once again faced with the prospect of either Joe Biden or Donald Trump back in the Oval Office. However, this time we have presidential track records to draw from as we prepare for the next administration. At this event, the United States Studies Centre launched its latest report Red Book | Blue Book 2024, a guide for decision-makers regarding the next US presidential administration. Which policies will be most impacted by a change in leadership? What will a second Biden or Trump ...
Jun 14, 2024•52 min•Ep. 173
The United States Studies Centre hosted a launch event for the USSC major report, Aligning values and interests: Japanese and Australian democracy support in the Pacific and Southeast Asia . No issues have aligned Japan and Australia more than the multi-faceted challenges China poses, particularly in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Yet as Japan and Australia have drawn closer than ever in areas of security, trade and regional aid, there remains far more work to be done in response to China’s ero...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 172
The Albanese and Biden governments are united in positing that climate change poses an existential threat and are modernising their alliance relationship to tackle it. Major efforts are underway to boost renewable technology innovation, harness critical minerals and bolster domestic manufacturing to accelerate the clean energy transition. Yet significant hurdles remain to realising bilateral climate ambitions. Australia and the United States must navigate the simultaneous challenges of decarboni...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 171
The Iowa caucuses on 15 January were the first test of whether any GOP challengers can make a dent on former president Trump’s dominating lead in the Republican race to be the presidential nominee. From February, the primary races will accelerate in the lead up to a climactic Super Tuesday set to occur around the same time as some of the pending Trump trials. In the midst of this, President Biden will deliver possibly his final State of the Union address, making a direct appeal to the American p...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 170
Although global attention is focused on the upcoming US presidential election in November 2024, a key regional election looms much sooner — the Taiwanese presidential election on 13 January. The contest to succeed the term-limited President Tsai Ing-Wen has already seen intrigue and drama, with four candidates vying for Taiwan’s highest office and, at one stage, two of them mulling a joint bid to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Frontrunner and current vice president William Lai's...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 169
One year out from the presidential election, and less than three months until the first of the Republican primary contests, the coming year is set to be a whirlwind of political drama — primaries, debates, conventions, the unprecedented legal trials of a former president and the US Constitution being tested as never before. With Joe Biden looking to cement his legacy as president, Republican candidates crisscrossing the country to shore up support, and Donald Trump ploughing his own path back to...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 168
In August 2023, the United States Studies Centre conducted a public opinion survey in Australia, the United States and Japan to understand the public sentiment in each nation on a variety of issues one year out from the 2024 US presidential election. Jared Mondschein, Director of Research and Victoria Cooper, Research Editor at the United States Studies Centre discussed findings of the poll during a presentation to the Sydney International Strategy Forum. This is the second of two presentations....
Nov 06, 2023•13 min•Ep. 167
Moderated by Dr Michael Green, CEO at the United States Studies Centre, this session of the Sydney International Strategy Forum features panellists Professor Peter Dean, Director, Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre; Rep. Akihisa Nagashima, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives; Dr Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; and Dr Gorana Grgić, Senior Lecturer in US Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre. The S...
Nov 06, 2023•49 min•Ep. 166
Professor Peter Dean, Director, Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre; Dr Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; and Hayley Channer, Director, Economic Security at the United States Studies Centre provided insights from an international strategy simulation that was hosted by the Centre to test how political thresholds, perceptions of risk, and national strategic assumptions might affect collective responses to a multi-faceted contingency in the ...
Nov 06, 2023•32 min•Ep. 165
Moderated by Jared Mondschein, Director of Research at the United States Studies Centre, this session of the Sydney International Strategy Forum features panellists Michaela Browning, Vice President Government and Public Policy for Asia Pacific at Google; Dr John Kunkel, Senior Economic Adviser at the United States Studies Centre; and Hayley Channer, Director, Economic Security at the United States Studies Centre. The Sydney International Strategy Forum brought together prominent thought leaders...
Nov 06, 2023•46 min•Ep. 164
Moderated by Victoria Cooper, Research Editor at the United States Studies Centre this session of the Sydney International Strategy Forum features panellists Ryan Lizza, Chief Washington Correspondent at Politico; Olivia Nuzzi, Washington Correspondent at New York Magazine; Associate Professor David Smith, Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre; and Bruce Wolpe, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. The Sydney International...
Nov 06, 2023•39 min•Ep. 163
Minister for Resources and the Minister for Northern Australia the Honourable Madeleine King MP delivered a keynote address to the Sydney International Strategy Forum before joining Hayley Channer, Director of Economic Security at the United States Studies Centre, for a fireside conversation. Ms King is the Minister for Resources and the Minister for Northern Australia. She has been the federal member for Brand since 2016 and in 2019 she was promoted to the role of Shadow Minister for Trade. She...
Nov 06, 2023•33 min•Ep. 162
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator the Honourable Simon Birmingham delivered a keynote address to the Sydney International Strategy Forum before joining Peter Dean, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre, for a fireside conversation. Mr Birmingham is Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He has served as a Liberal Party Senator for South Australia since May 2007. Under the Morrison government, Mr Birmingham wa...
Nov 06, 2023•29 min•Ep. 161
Moderated by Dr Michael Green, CEO of the United States Studies Centre, this session of the Sydney International Strategy Forum features panellists Michèle Flournoy, Co-founder of WestExec Advisors; Admiral Phil Davidson, former Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command; Dr Evan Medeiros, Professor and Penner Family Chair in Asia Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; and The Hon. Kim Beazley AC, former Australian Ambassador to the United States. The Sydney International S...
Nov 06, 2023•55 min•Ep. 160
Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and Co-Founder, former Chief Executive Officer, and now Chair of the Center for a New American Security. Ms Flournoy served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009 to 2012. She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defence policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. Ms Flournoy delivered a keyn...
Nov 06, 2023•28 min•Ep. 159
Dr Michael Green, CEO of the United States Studies Centre provides welcome remarks for the inaugural Sydney International Strategy Forum held at the Four Seasons Sydney on 1 November 2023. Jared Mondschein, Director of Research and Victoria Cooper, Research Editor at the United States Studies Centre then discussed the findings of a public opinion survey conducted by the United States Studies Centre In August 2023 in Australia, the United States and Japan. The poll measured public sentiment in ea...
Nov 06, 2023•18 min•Ep. 158
Republican presidential candidates gathered in Milwaukee for the biggest event of the 2024 election cycle so far: the first Republican presidential debate. With the power to make or break the candidates jockeying to stand out in the crowded GOP field, the first debate is a critical step in deciding who will ultimately face off against likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election. While the stage may be set, much remains unknown. Does anyone stand a chance to dethrone fro...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 157
The past few years have seen an unprecedented use of economic coercion as a tool of international relations, from sanctions placed on Russia, Iran, and North Korea to the ongoing export control battle between China and the United States. How far will these tools go? Would sanctions work in China in the event of a Taiwan crisis? What would it mean for the private sector and businesses? To discuss this, USSC hosted a discussion with Adam Smith, a world-leading international trade compliance lawyer...
Aug 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 156
Strategic competition between the United States and China, Australia’s most important ally and largest trading partner respectively, means Australia must maintain a delicate balancing act. China has recently begun removing restrictions on Australian imports in signs of improved bilateral relations, even as it threatens economic coercion in other areas of the region. With an uncertain global economic outlook and rising tensions across the Indo-Pacific, questions of how Australia should engage wit...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 155
While debt-ceiling negotiations required President Biden to call off the Australia leg of his recent trip to the region, this did not stop progress on a number of major initiatives across the Indo-Pacific. At the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, key global leaders discussed a wide range of salient issues, from countering economic coercion and redoubling support for Ukraine to clean energy and nuclear disarmament. The leaders of all four Quad countries were also able to hold a rescheduled Quad Leaders Sum...
May 28, 2023•51 min•Ep. 154
