NEWS WRAP

Cheney: I'm just getting started

• Ambitions beyond primary defeat revealed | Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney conceded defeat to challenger Harriet Hageman in the Republican primary election for her House seat on Tuesday. Cheney pledged to continue to do “whatever it takes” to keep former President Trump out of the White House. READ MORE HERE
   
• Biden cabinet road tour to promote landmark bill | Key members of President Biden’s cabinet are going on a nationwide tour to promote the US$737 billion energy, climate, and health care legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law this week. The White House is looking to capitalise on its string of policy and political wins as it tries to boost the Democrats’ midterms chances in November 2022. READ MORE HERE
   
• China reacts to new US delegation Taiwan visit | China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the island’s president met with members of a new US congressional delegation on Monday, less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit. Beijing accuses Washington of encouraging the island’s independence, in contradiction to the espoused One China policy.  READ MORE HERE
   

• COVID-19 social distancing US rules relaxed | The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed their COVID-19 guidelines, dropping the recommendation that people need to stay two metres away from others and removing the quarantine rule for the unvaccinated. Since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, an estimated 95 per cent of citizens 16 years and older have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, agency officials said. READ MORE HERE
   

• Salman Rushdie recovers after stabbing | Author Salman Rushdie, who has long been in hiding in India following a fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, is on the road to recovery after being stabbed at a public event in New York on the weekend. He is now off the ventilator and can talk but will take months to fully recover, according to his agent. READ MORE HERE

ANALYSIS

A K-Arsenal of democracy? South Korea and US defence procurement  

Dr Peter K Lee and Tom Corben
Research Fellow and Research Associate, United States Studies Centre

The Biden administration is grappling with the parallel challenges of resourcing military strategies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific while shoring up America’s own defence industrial capacity.

US armaments are still the global gold standard, but there are not enough to go around, nor, if you ask many allies, are they sufficiently affordable. This requires leaning on a wider pool of suppliers to help it to fill the gaps in allied defence capabilities. South Korea can help to fulfil the defence procurement needs of frontline US allies in both theatres.

Rather than being perceived solely as a commercial competitor, the United States ought to view South Korean defence firms as having a complementary role to play in fulfilling the defence acquisition needs of key allies and partners.

This article was first published in War on the Rocks

WEBINAR

American democracy in peril: The US Senate's crucial role - in conversation with Ira Shapiro and Bill Kristol

Ira Shapiro's recent book, The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America, chronicles the US Senate during the Trump presidency. As a veteran scholar and former Senate staffer with bipartisan experience, Shapiro determines the Senate and its Republican members, led by Mitch McConnell (R-KY), ultimately abandoned late Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) guiding principle 'Country first'. What does the future hold for McConnell, arguably the most powerful Republican Senate leader ever, in the context of the midterm elections in November and what do the US midterms mean for Australia?

To discuss these issues, please join the USSC webinar featuring Ira Shapiro and Bill Kristol, editor-at-large of The Bulwark, Director of Defending Democracy Together, former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle and one of the most incisive Republican intellectuals and commentators, in conversation with USSC CEO Dr Michael Green and Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe.

WHEN
SYDNEY | Tuesday, 23 August 2022 | 11am-12pm AEST

WASHINGTON | Monday, 22 August 2022 | 9pm-10pm EDT

COST
Free but registration is essential.

BY THE NUMBERS

Polarised electorate causes record surge in 2022 midterms ad spending  

Spending on political advertising is projected to reach almost US$9.7 billion ahead of the 2022 midterms, doubling the spending from the 2018 midterm cycle and even outpacing the 2020 elections, a report from AdImpact found. The 2022 record figure compares with about US$4 billion in the 2018 cycle and about US$9 billion in the 2020 presidential election cycle. 

VIDEO

Wildland: The making of America's fury 

Protests over the FBI search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home are stirring further divide in a nation that was beset by a pandemic, civil unrest, and political turmoil before the January 6 Capitol attack even began in 2021.  

What is the connection between the lives of individual Americans and the dysfunction that characterises Washington? What explains the seismic shifts in politics and culture across the country? 

To discuss what led to this moment and what can be done about it, the USSC hosted a discussion with Evan Osnos, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury in conversation with then- USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr Charles Edel.

Catch more podcast and video analysis on the United States here.

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#InflationReductionAct