17 MARCH

An evolving alliance agenda

Yesterday the United States Studies Centre (USSC) launched our inaugural State of the United States (SOTUS) flagship report at our tentpole conference in Canberra. We were joined by speakers including Australian Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos, US Chargé d’Affaires Mike Goldman and Secretary of the Department of Defence Greg Moriarty. The joint report with our sister centre, the Perth USAsia Centre, has enjoyed a strong reception both here in Australia and in the United States.

The event occurred at a dynamic time in the US-Australia relationship. Following the the first meeting of the Quad this weekend, the President and key administration officials have conducted an Indo-Pacific PR blitz. In a joint op-ed President Biden joined with Prime Minister Morison, Prime Minister Modi, and Prime Minister Suga to commit to “an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, resilient and inclusive.” In his first trip to the Indo-Pacific as Secretary of State, Antony Blinken warned China not to engaging in “coercion and aggression” and National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told the Sydney Morning Herald, “we are not going to leave Australia alone in the field.”

The prioritisation of Australia and the Indo-Pacific is further evidence of both the mutuality of the US-Australia relationship and the resolve of the Biden administration to follow-through on its collaborative approach to international relations. This willingness to collaborate is central to key SOTUS recommendations, particularly around global health security, deterring economic coercion and increasing defence resilience in the Indo-Pacific.

NEWS WRAP

US won't leave Australia stranded on China issue

Defending a mate | Two senior US foreign policy officials warned China against coercion in the Indo-Pacific in the midst of the first of the so-called “Quad” meetings between Australia, the United States, India and Japan. Kurt Campbell, the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific coordinator, said that President Biden told the Chinese government that “we are not going to leave Australia alone in the field”. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also decried China’s sweeping use of “coercion and aggression" in the Indo-Pacific. READ MORE HERE
At it again | US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia conducted a sustained attempt to influence the result of the 2020 presidential election. The report from the Director of National Intelligence found that multiple Russian government organisations ran influence operations to denigrate Joe Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party. READ MORE HERE
Frosty Alaska summit | The US and China will hold their first high level talks at a summit in Alaska this week. The meeting comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries following the Biden administration's condemnation of Beijing statecraft and their role in a major breach of Microsoft Exchange servers allegedly carried out by state-backed Chinese hackers. READ MORE HERE
A First Nations first | Democratic Congresswoman Deb Haaland made history this week when she was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Interior Department, becoming the first Native American Cabinet secretary in US history. Haaland, a member of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo, was also one of the first two Native American women to be elected to Congress in 2018. READ MORE HERE
Calls for extreme regulation overhaul | Big tech are set to appear at an upcoming inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia in the coming weeks. The role of big tech in facilitating radicalisation leading to domestic terrorism was highlighted during the DC Capitol riot in January. In the USSC's SOTUS report, Research Associate Elliott Brennan says there is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to revisit internet regulation and lawmakers must think multilaterally. READ MORE HERE

Allies and partners really are the
secret sauce - they’re the force multipliers.

Michael Goldman, Charge d'Affaires US Embassy, Canberra
SOTUS Conference | 16 March 2021

VIRTUAL EVENT

A conversation with The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin

Almost as soon as he entered office, President Trump brought to a boil the long-simmering rivalry between the United States and China; by the time he left office, Trump's love-hate relationship had sparked a trade war and China's aggression had pushed the world to the brink of a new Cold War.

In his just released book, Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century, The Washington Post award-winning columnist, Josh Rogin details the behind-the-scenes story of the Trump administration’s confrontation with Beijing.

Please join us for an event featuring Josh Rogin in conversation with Non-Resident Senior Fellows Dr Charles Edel and Dr John Lee as they discuss this timely work alongside broader issues in the US-China relationship.

WHEN:
Wednesday 24 March,11.00am AEDT (Sydney)
Wednesday, 24 March, 8am AWST (Perth)
Tuesday, 23 March, 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!

REGISTER NOW

ANALYSIS

Collaborate to combat misinformation and the threat of domestic extremism

Elliott Brennan
Research Associate

The links between flawed information ecosystems and domestic extremism are now explicit and well-acknowledged following the failed Capitol insurrection on 6 January 2021. American security and intelligence agencies will be dealing with an emboldened extreme right-wing domestic terror threat for years to come as a result of the belief among many that the presidential election was rigged. But both the explosion of violence and erosion of fact were a long time in the making and long foretold. Australia is in a position to avoid the full fate of the United States in this regard. Working with American counterparts will be essential given that many of the solutions strike through American jurisdictions, like Silicon Valley.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an accelerant — but not the root cause — for the linked information and extremism crisis facing the world today. Traditional news sources have been financially squeezed for years while the internet giants applying the bulk of the pressure have shirked any real responsibility for the content they host and promote, even in many cases when it was clearly extremist or outright conspiracy theorist content.

The Trump administration quickened truth decay. The leader of the world’s oldest and most renowned democracy was disinterested in upholding the institutions that underpinned it. The COVID-19 pandemic then caused immense, health and financial hardship and contributed severe damage to social cohesion. Meanwhile, internet use soared in concert with prolonged lockdowns.

With the above factors in place, the world was primed for the rapid scaling of misinformation within individuals’ information ecosystems and far-right groups and conspiratorial grifters were ready to exploit it.

This is an excerpt from Elliott Brennan's chapter in the inaugural
State of the United States report. Click below to read the full article.

BY THE NUMBERS

Not made in China?

US voters on both sides of the spectrum indicated they were willing to put their money where their mouth is when it came to products made in China. Polling conducted in February 2021 for the USSC's SOTUS report showed an overwhelming proportion of Americans claim they would pay a premium of as much as $US500 extra for a mobile made in a country other than China “in order to reduce our reliance on Chinese made products."

According to the report, both Trump voters (88 per cent) and Biden voters (84 per cent) overwhelmingly preferred to buy a phone made outside of China should there be no additional cost for its purchase. Unsurprisingly, increasing costs diminished respondents' willingness to purchase phones made outside of China. However, even with a premium of over $250, at least two thirds of Americans reported a preference for buying "not made in China".

Trump voters remain most adamant about preferring the phone not made in China across rising cost differences, with around 90 per cent preferring the phone not made in China despite a $250 or even $500 price premium. Biden voters are the most responsive to the increasing price premiums, but even at the $250 and $500 levels, a majority of Biden voters continue to prefer the phone not made in China.

For more polling insights from the United States and Australia like this one, head to our newly released flagship publication, State of the United States: An evolving alliance agenda.

VIDEO

US politics and policy series
March edition

Did you miss the March episode of the US politics and policy series: A review from Australia? This month United States Studies Centre and Perth USAsia Centre CEO's Professor Simon Jackman and Professor Gordon Flake were joined by special guest Zoe Daniel, former ABC former ABC Washington Bureau Chief and co-author of the recently released book Greetings from Trumpland: How an unprecedented presidency changed everything.

Watch the full event HERE.

Catch this and other recent webinars on the USSC YouTube channel!