No images? Click here 17 MARCHAn evolving alliance agendaYesterday 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 WRAPUS won't leave Australia stranded on China issue
Allies and partners really are the Michael Goldman, Charge d'Affaires US Embassy, Canberra VIRTUAL EVENTA conversation with The Washington Post columnist Josh RoginAlmost 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. COST: ANALYSISCollaborate to combat misinformation and the threat of domestic extremismElliott Brennan 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 BY THE NUMBERSNot 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". 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. VIDEOUS politics and policy series
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