From the past to the future of the Australia-US Alliance, all in one monthMajor milestones such as the 70th anniversary of ANZUS and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 meant that September 2021 was always going to be of great significance for the United States Studies Centre. The Centre set out to mark the 70th anniversary of ANZUS, not to drape the Alliance in nostalgia or sentimentality, but to draw on that history so as to underscore the extraordinary value and centrality of the Alliance today and in the near future. It would seem many in Canberra and Washington were of a similar mind, with this month’s far-reaching developments; setting the stage for the next chapter of the Australia-US Alliance: AUSMIN, the Quad leader’s meeting, Biden and Morrison's first one-on-one and, most notably, AUKUS. In all of this, the United States Studies Centre has been at the fore.
Our Alliance at 70 event — commemorating the 70th anniversary of the signing of ANZUS — featured a conversation with Prime Ministers Gillard and Howard, and the symbolic lighting of the Sydney Opera House.
Our real-time analysis of the new AUKUS deal and an address from Senator the Hon Penny Wong saw the Centre make important contributions to the national conversation around these developments. Webinars including the Alliance at 70 event, 20 years since 9/11 with General David Petraeus and Major General Duncan Lewis, and Senator the Hon Penny Wong's launching of USSC report Correcting the course were all featured on major news networks. Our op-eds on ANZUS, AUSMIN and geoeconomics and have been featured in The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Foreign Policy and The Hill. Our experts have been featured on Under Investigation, Q+A, CNN, ABC and the major news networks. Attendance at our webinars has set new records for the Centre.
As I’ve asserted many times, as Australia charts its course and in a region and epoch defined by multi-faceted, rapid-moving, strategic competition, Australia's single greatest resource is its deep and broad relationship with the United States. Events this month supercharge the Centre, the energy of our people, the relevance of our mission, and your interest in our work. We are tremendously grateful for your ongoing support and welcome any additional thoughts and feedback you have as we seek to continuously iterate and improve.
Sincerely, Professor Simon Jackman
CEO, United States Studies Centre
The future of US politics: A conversation with The Brookings Institution's Sarah Binder and Thomas MannDuring the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden famously predicted that a loss by President Trump in the November 2020 election would force Republicans to have an “epiphany” and turn away from Trump. But has the Democrat-projected epiphany occurred? Can one of the most experienced presidents in US history buck historical trends and bring about an era of bipartisanship? What are the implications for Australia if the
US political divide worsens? To discuss these issues, please join the United States Studies Centre for a webinar featuring Sarah Binder and Thomas Mann, Senior Fellows in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution in conversation with USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe. WHEN:
Thursday, 7 October 2021, 11am AEDT (Sydney), 8am AWST (Perth) COST:
Free, but registration is essential.
Excerpt from the contribution by His Excellency the Honourable Kim Beazley AC for the soon-to-be released USSC book:
The Alliance at 70
Contemporary events have changed the balance in the ANZUS relationship once again. One was the 1990’s revolution in military affairs. Its effects have been deepened by a further technological revolution in weapons systems – the growing importance of cyber, artificial intelligence in computing, electronic warfare and surveillance technologies.
Australia now has a fifth-generation Air Force and it is all American. Super Hornets, Growlers, F-35s, Poseidon surveillance/ASW aircraft networked and integrated with, among other things, US satellite systems and our over the horizon radar system developed originally with the Americans. Australia’s Army and Navy have been similarly drawn into the networked battlefield. Our equipment is overwhelmingly American. When I was Ambassador to the United States, the Embassy was managing 400 foreign military sales agreements. We were spending A$13 million a day on American equipment.
The strategic environment has changed dramatically as well. We are no longer operating in a strategic backwater but at the focal point of the global political and economic system. All of Asia has risen in economic and military capability. At the heart is the rise of China. In the 1987 Defence white paper, China rated two anodyne mentions. Now its military, technological and economic capability has our focus. Since the Obama administration, the United States has been struggling to reprioritise the region. The United States’ old commitment to its San Francisco alliance system, of which ANZUS is part, remains. Those commitments with these changes are now more challenging. For us, the old notion of relatively relaxed ‘warning time’ has disappeared. The San Francisco system is now balanced with a US commitment to multilateral diplomacy. APEC and the East Asia Summit have
helped but the United States also looks to the Quad of India, Japan, Australia and the United States. These are not military alliances.
The United States is anxious for effective diplomacy. It does not want war with China, though it must be prepared for it. Particularly with the Biden administration, it wants economic and diplomatic partnerships in which it plays a role with partners it respects. We have long been engaged in regional diplomacy. The United States needs from us not a narrowly based military dependent but a party with ideas, focused and capable of initiative. We must deliver it even though at the back of our minds we know without the relationship and the joint facilities we would be deaf and blind and with an unaffordable military task.
The Alliance at 70: This lavishly produced, colourful volume explores the history of the Australia-US Alliance and wider relationship through archival research, images and personal recollections from several influential voices including former US President George W. Bush, former Prime Ministers John Howard and Julia Gillard, Ambassadors Arthur Sinodinos and John Berry and writers and actors Paul Hogan and Rob Sitch.
Trust and diversify: A geoeconomic strategy for the Australia-US allianceEarlier this month the USSC launched its first geoeconomics report, Trust and diversify: A geoeconomic strategy for the Australia-US alliance, by Australian National University Senior Lecturer Darren Lim, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Zack Cooper, and former Center for a New American Security researcher Ashley Feng. The report provides a roadmap to counter economic coercion in the
Indo-Pacific through optimising existing channels and creating new mechanisms to address strategic gaps. The report was covered by ABC and AFR. DOWNLOAD HERE
Year 12 Information SessionJoin us to receive information on the recent changes to the 2021 HSC and applying to the University of Sydney for 2022. Learn how the new UAC dates may impact your application and preferences, when you will receive your offer, and what admission pathway and entry schemes are still open. We’ll also hear from a student who sat the HSC in 2020 and can provide advice on how to manage study and exams during COVID, based on their own experiences.
USSC IMHOFrom ANZUS to AUKUS, USSC experts published commentary on a wide range of topics this month, including:
Webinar replaysThe latest episodes of our webinars are now available on our YouTube channel. Catch up on these events through the USSC Live podcast and on YouTube. Here are some of the greatest hits from recent webinars: - The Alliance 70th anniversary with distinguished guests former Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and John Howard ft. Julia Gillard, John Howard, Scott Morrison, Anthony Albanese, Gladys Berejiklian, Dennis Richardson, Mark Baillie, John Olsen and Simon Jackman
- Twenty years since 9/11 with Major General Duncan Lewis and
General David Petraeus ft. Duncan Lewis, David Petraeus and Jane Hardy
- An address by Senator the Hon Penny Wong to launch USSC report "Correcting the course" ft. Penny Wong, Ashley Townshend, Susannah Patton and Simon Jackman
- Previewing the Biden administration's first AUSMIN meeting ft. Jennifer Jackett, Stephen
Kirchner, Susannah Patton, Ashley Townshend and Simon Jackman
- Trust and diversify: A geoeconomic strategy for the Australia-US alliance ft. Darren Lim, Zack Cooper, Ashley Feng and Jeffrey Wilson
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the USSC YouTube channel to get notifications as soon as new videos are uploaded.
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