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31 MARCH
Battling "impending doom"
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky warned of “impending doom” in the United States despite the breakneck pace of COVID-19 vaccinations. Cases have increased an average of 16 per cent per day over the past two weeks even though 33 million more people were vaccinated during that time. Part of the concern is the ability to transmit the virus even after being vaccinated. For these reasons, the Biden administration is once again doubling down on mask mandates and urging continued caution and vigilance.
In 2020, Australia was the first nation to publicly call for an inquiry into the origin of the virus. Now, the Associated Press has received a preliminary copy of the long-awaited World Health Organization report on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. The findings show initial transmission from animal to animal or animal to human were equally likely and all but ruled out a leak from a lab in Wuhan. With many questions still unanswered, concerns about potential Chinese interference in the release of the information are escalating. This comes at a time when attacks on Asian Americans and Asian Australians are on the rise. Experts are calling for officials to avoid fuelling prejudice in the ways they seek and share information about the virus and to move toward an approach that foregrounds collective health security and resilience.
NEWS WRAP
A new era of justice
'Trailblazing' judicial nominees | President Biden announced what he described as a "trailblazing slate" of 11 federal judicial nominees. The group includes three African American women in addition to candidates who, if confirmed, would be the first Muslim American federal judge in US history. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is among the nominees and, if she is confirmed, will take the place of Merrick Garland on the District of Columbia appeals court. She is also among the top contenders for a seat on the Supreme Court if there is a vacancy during Biden's time in office. READ MORE HERE
George Floyd murder trial underway | A jury heard opening statements in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman charged with the murder of George Floyd. Tight security measures have been put in place for the trial, with the courtroom building surrounded by concrete barriers, barbed wire and National Guard soldiers. The prosecution told jurors Chauvin "betrayed the badge" when he used excessive force against George Floyd, while the defence maintains the former officer had simply followed his police training. READ MORE HERE
Climate summit invitation | Prime Minister Scott Morrison received an invitation from the Biden administration to attend a climate change summit in April. The summit is aims to encourage ambitious new carbon reduction pledges from the 40 leaders who received an invite. Morrison's inclusion is a marked change after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rescinded an offer for Morrison to join the December 2020 summit because Australia had not announced ambitious enough emissions reduction targets. READ MORE HERE
Concerned about WHO? | The United States and Australia were among 14 nations to release a joint statement raising "concerns" with a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the coronavirus. The statement argued the investigation was "significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples". It included calls for a "renewed commitment" from the WHO and member states to "access, transparency, and timeliness". READ MORE HERE
As the world grows more unstable, uncooperative and illiberal, US foreign policymakers will have significantly less room to manoeuvre.
Dr Gorana Grgic
Defence Connect | 25 March 2021
VIRTUAL EVENT
From Trumpland to Bidenland
As Washington Bureau Chief for the ABC, Zoe Daniel had a front row seat to the ascension and decline of Donald Trump. Seeing how he masterfully harnessed fear and anger, coupled with a reality TV-honed entertainment instinct, she bore witness to the dawn of a new era in US politics.
With a new steady, staid and significantly unassuming presidential administration, who is the anomaly – Trump or Biden? What happens to Trump followers when he’s not in the White House? How does this change perceptions of US power and influence?
To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar featuring Zoe Daniel, co-author of the new book Greetings from Trumpland in conversation with Holly Ransom, Founder and CEO of Emergent.
WHEN:
Thursday, 22 April, 10am AEST (Sydney) 8am AWST (Perth)
Wednesday, 21 April, 8pm EDT (Washington, DC)
COST:
Free but registration is essential.
You can also subscribe to have event invitations and reminders sent straight to your inbox, so you never have to miss an event!
Australia and the United States should build on existing commitments to strengthen health security in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
These efforts must focus on addressing the secondary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threaten to reverse fragile gains made across broader health and development indicators over recent decades. Despite early containment measures resulting in lower caseloads throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific compared to other regions, progress in controlling the spread of the virus and the ongoing capacity of national governments to respond to outbreaks remains deeply uneven. Diversion of material and human resources to address COVID-19 has placed further strain on already weak health systems, causing significant disruption to essential services and stalling momentum towards universal health coverage. An estimated 34.8 million infants throughout Southeast Asia have missed routine vaccinations as a result of the pandemic, with health experts warning that efforts to control and eradicate malaria in the Pacific are also at risk.
The 2020 AUSMIN Global Health Security Statement established a foundation for bilateral cooperation in tackling COVID-19 throughout the region with its pledge to strengthen and accelerate health security capacity building. Australia and the Biden administration should recommit to this joint plan of activities with an expanded remit to confront a broader suite of health and development challenges emerging from the pandemic. This approach will be crucial for ensuring collective action strengthens health systems holistically, rather than creating parallel infrastructure that operates solely in response to COVID-19 and generates limited long-term impact.
This is an excerpt from Matilda Steward's chapter in our State of the United States report. Click below to read the full article.
BY THE NUMBERS
Linking climate change to trade
Biden voters are overwhelmingly more likely than Trump voters to agree that the United States should “reward countries who do more to stop climate change with favourable trade deals and impose costs on those that do not.”
As part of our State of the United States (SOTUS) polling, we delved into the prospect of using preferential trade agreements to incentivise more action on climate change from other countries. We found broad support for injecting climate change considerations into foreign policy, trade and national security policy, with some 68 per cent of Americans rate dealing with global climate change as an important goal of US foreign policy.
When asked whether the United States ought to "reward countries who do more to stop climate change with more favourable trade deals and impose costs on those that do not," 72 per cent of Biden voters agreed with the proposition, with 32 per cent expressing a strong agreement. This represented a stark comparison to Trump voters, of whom only 18 per cent supported the use of preferential trade policies to further global action on climate change. Trump voters, however, did not rank climate change highly as a policy priority: 50 per cent of respondents said climate change was the "least important issue" in terms of foreign policy. By comparison, 82 per cent of Trump voters said China was the most or equal most important foreign policy issue for the United States.
The message for Australian policymakers from this data is clear. Biden supporters want the campaign promise of a decisive climate change policy to be realised; for climate change considerations to not just be central, but arguably the single most important driver of US foreign policy; and, preferably, linked to decisions about trade deals.
For more polling insights from the United States and Australia, read our flagship publication, State of the United States: An evolving alliance agenda.
VIDEO
A conversation with The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin
Did you miss our latest event featuring award-winning Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin? The webinar, hosted by USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellows Dr Charles Edel and Dr John Lee, is available now for replay on our YouTube channel. Tune in to the exciting discussion on Rogin's newly released book "Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the battle for the 21st Century," and dive into the behind-the-scenes story of the Trump administration's confrontation with Beijing.
Watch the full event HERE.
Catch this and other recent webinars on the USSC YouTube channel!
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United States Studies Centre
Institute Building H03
University of Sydney NSW 2006
