VIDEO

Election Watch: US Politics Web Series with special guest Mia Love

Were you unable to make it to the latest instalment in our US Politics Web Series with USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman, Perth USAsia Centre CEO Professor Gordon Flake and special guest Mia Love?

You can now watch the full webinar on our YouTube channel!

NEWS WRAP

Breaking convention

• Republican Senators skip GOP convention over COVID-19 fears
  Five Republican Senators have announced they will not be attending the GOP convention, set to be held in Florida from 24 - 27 August, as coronavirus case numbers surge in the state. READ MORE HERE
   
• Trump notifies Congress of US withdrawal from WHO
  Following months of pandemic-fuelled criticisms towards the World Health Organization (WHO), the Trump administration has formally notified Congress and the United Nations that the United States will be withdrawing from the WHO. READ MORE HERE
   
• Australia is not “stumbling into US-China rivalry”
  Following Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement outlining the 2020 Strategic Defence Update and $270bn defence funding commitment, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr John Lee said Australia is “moving to shape the region to our liking and interests instead of stumbling into a US-China rivalry”. READ MORE HERE
   
• Can Kanye actually still run for president at this point?
  While Kanye made headlines with his announcement, just how feasible is it this close to the election? USSC Senior Lecturer Dr David Smith spoke to Triple J Hack to set the record straight on just how realistic this latest development is. READ MORE HERE
   
• Trump warned of mail-in vote criticism hurts campaign
  President Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting are turning many off absentee ballots, though Republican strategists say it will undercut their own candidates, including President Trump. READ MORE HERE

ANALYSIS

Foreign policy may still yet matter in the presidential race​

Bruce Wolpe
Non-Resident Senior Fellow

A fourth horseman of the American apocalypse - foreign policy - has rudely barged into US politics, joining the pandemic, economic collapse, and racial justice as fissures scarring America's political landscape.

Last week, two bullets tore across the presidential campaign. The first, Russia and the accounts of bounties being paid to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, hit and staggered Trump. The second, the question of whether Israel's Prime Minister would take formal action to annex lands in the West Bank, misfired but pierced the decades-long bipartisan support in Washington for Israel.

Bullet number one

The White House has angrily rejected the story first broken by The New York Times that Russia provided funds to the Taliban to kill Americans, that President Trump was briefed about this in February, and that no action was taken to reprimand Russia and demand such murderous conduct be ended.

Trump now faces a firestorm over how he deals with Russia. It has been reported he never wants to hear any bad news about Russia and Putin, which may have led to him failing to protect the troops from Russian-financed Taliban attacks. Some parents of American forces killed in Afghanistan fear their sons were victims of this failure. And Trump still wants to invite Russia to join the G7.

As Senator Howard Baker asked of President Nixon in the 1973 Watergate hearings: "What did the president know, and when did he know it?" In this case, what did National Security Advisors Bolton and Robert O'Brien know, and how did they act on it?

In his White House memoir, John Bolton recounts a November 2018 meeting that reflected Trump's insistence to exit Afghanistan at almost any cost: "'ISIS is still in Afghanistan,' said [Defence Secretary] Mattis. Trump said, 'Let Russia take care of them. We're 7000 miles away but we're still a target ... It's a horror show. At some point, we've got to get out.' And days later, Trump to Mattis: 'I gave you what you asked for. Unlimited authority, no holds barred. You're losing. You're getting your ass kicked. You failed.'"

This article is an excerpt from an article originally published in the Canberra Times.

COVID-19: BY THE NUMBERS

Daily per cent increase of cases:
FL 3.56 | VIC 6.17

Three weeks after the Republican party decided to move its national convention in August from North Carolina to Florida, COVID-19 cases surged in the new host state.

Total numbers of coronavirus cases in the swing state only trail behind New York and California, but on a day-to-day increase basis, they lag behind Victoria, which reported an increase of 6.17 per cent yesterday.

To track the latest trends and numbers, visit our COVID-19 tracker HERE.

VIRTUAL EVENT

The vice-presidential sweepstakes

Who are the Biden campaign’s top choices for vice president? Will Biden use his choice to energise Democratic Party progressives or to maintain his campaign theme of being a moderate, centrist candidate? Or will history be made in 2020, with a woman elected as vice president of the United States? 

To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar event featuring Dr Jennifer Lawless, the Commonwealth Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia; Kim Hoggard, former senior official in the Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush administrations; and USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman in a conversation moderated by former ABC Washington Bureau Chief Zoe Daniel.  

WHEN:
Tuesday 14 July 2020, 10am AEST

COST: 
Free, but registration is essential

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#2020VISION