18 APRIL

Comey tome ruffles Trump 

Tuesday's release of former FBI director James Comey's book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, and the accompanying press tour has dominated the president's attention for nearly a week despite allied air strikes on Syria and continued attention on the raid of Trump attorney Michael Cohen. 

Comey has been deeply critical of the president, characterising him as morally unfit to occupy his office in both the book and media interviews. Trump has labeled Comey as a "slimeball", a liar and leaker, suggesting he be sent to jail and tweeting about him a dozen times in the past week, including just hours before announcing military action against the Syrian regime. 

Trump administration officials meanwhile have painted Comey as a disgruntled ex-employee looking to settle scores, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week stating that his firing was “one of the president's greatest achievements”. 

NEWS WRAP

Syria strike

• The United States and allies Britain and France launched air attacks on Syria last week in retaliation for the Assad government’s use of chemical weapons. Syria responded with unspecified anti-aircraft defences. President Trump tweeted "mission accomplished" on Saturday morning following the overnight attacks. The Centre's lecturer in US politics and foreign policy Gorana Grgic spoke to FBi Radio on Saturday about the intricate diplomacy surrounding reprisal strikes in Syria. LISTEN HERE.
   

• Fox News' Sean Hannity was revealed as Trump attorney Michael Cohen's mystery third client in a Manhattan federal court proceeding Monday. Hannity later denied that Cohen had ever represented him "in any matter", but said he "occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective". READ MORE HERE.
   
• President Trump has the power to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, the White House claimed last week. But would it be in his best interests to do so? Associate professor in American politics Brendon O'Connor spoke to SBS for their explainer last week looking at what would happen if Trump were to fire Mueller and the risks of Congress looking into articles of impeachment. READ MORE HERE.
   
• UN Ambassador Nikki Haley gave a speech on global governance last week at Duke University, where she was queried about a potential run for president. Senior fellow Elsina Wainwright spoke to The Australian Financial Review at the weekend about what a President Haley might look like. READ MORE HERE.
   
• There has been ongoing debate about China's role in the South Pacific following revelations last week about China's discussions with Vanuatu about a possible military presence there. Senior fellow Charles Edel spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald for their feature at the weekend looking at how China has been carefully building its influence across the Pacific and the fault-lines beginning to emerge. READ MORE HERE.
   
• Former first lady Barbara Bush has died, aged 92. The wife of President George H.R. Bush and mother to President George W. Bush had been through a series of hospitalisations and decided to not seek additional medical care. She had been suffering in recent years from congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. During her time as first lady she focused on promoting literacy and reading. READ MORE HERE.

A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it — that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds.

Former FBI director James Comey
20/20 - ABC Television
15 April 2018

ANALYSIS

Will the United States say 'g'day' to our defence exports? 

Claire McFarland
Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program

Nearly 300 people converged on Washington, DC last Thursday for the G’Day USA Dialogue on Defence Industries. In light of the newly-announced goal of growing Australia's defence industry into a top ten global defence exporter by 2028, no doubt the Australian government was content with the interest.

Among attendees were a dozen Australian companies seeing a growth market opportunity in the United States for their cyber products and services, and taking part in the Austrade/AustCyber Cyber Security Mission. Last year a smaller delegation visited the US west coast only – the east coast addition being testament to the increasing level of commercial and government interest in cyber security in both Australia and the United States.

In an era of ‘buy American, hire American’ it remains to be seen what Australia's inclusion in the definition of the US National Technology Industrial Base (NTIB) will translate to, and to what extent we'll see flow through to supply chain access for Australian companies. However, the discussion at the dialogue was very much centred on the importance of our longstanding status as trusted and valued allies.

Following an Executive Order in July 2017 for Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States, the US government has been taking a systematic approach to reviewing its industrial base. The review is not publicly available as yet, but Eric Chewning from the US Department of Defense stated the options to address gaps and challenges include working with allies along with policy and investment levers. 

A number of ‘pathfinder’ efforts are underway to test out how Australian capability – and that of the other nations included in the statutory definition – can be added to the US NTIB. These projects, which reportedly cover cybersecurity, controlled goods, and industrial and investment security, were held up as the first wave in determining how best to work together. The challenge here – as in many things to do with defence procurement – is that by the time the processes and paperwork are worked through, the technology (and the global threats) may have moved on. 

Despite the presence of Australian cyber security companies in the trade mission, cyber security was one area that seemed notably absent from many of the panel discussions and addresses. 

With the elevation of US Cyber Command to the status of a Unified Combatant Command in 2017, along with the convergence of more than 50,000 members of the world’s cyber security community at San Francisco's RSA Conference this week, to not have a significant discussion about cyber security in the context of defence industry signified an east and west coast miles apart in more than just distance.

DIARY

The week ahead

• Wednesday, 18 April: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrives in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
   

• Wednesday, 18 April: US House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on FY2019 Budget – Department of Agriculture.
   

• Thursday, 19 April: Cuba’s National Assembly will gather to choose Cuba’s next leader.
   

• 23-25 April: US Supreme Court hears oral arguments.
   

• Wednesday, 25 April: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will open the Sir John Monash Centre in Villers-Bretonneux, France, honouring Australians who served on the Western Front.

EVENT

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love presidential tweets

VIDEO

Barbara Bush delivers the commencement address at Wellesley College in 1990

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#Syria

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University of Sydney NSW 2006

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