No images? Click here 18 October 2023President Biden's Tel Aviv testUS President Joe Biden is imminently due to land in Tel Aviv. Shortly before departure, the Amman summit between Arab leaders was cancelled following a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza city that killed at least 500. Both Israel and Hamas blame each other for the attack. The president’s visit comes at a critical time in the fast-evolving conflict as Israel prepares for a ground invasion in Gaza and as the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens. The snap one-day trip is an extraordinary show of US solidarity with Israel, though Biden has also stressed that a focus of his visit will be ensuring humanitarian assistance and aid flows to Gaza as well as brokering the release of hostages taken during the Hamas terror attack on 7 October. The trip may test the limits of President Biden’s diplomatic prowess. Only complicating the administration’s diplomatic efforts will be political logjams in Washington that have seen Congress remain unable to appoint a Speaker of the House and pass any aid packages for Israel or Ukraine. These challenges will likely also have an impact on Prime Minister Albanese’s official visit to Washington next week. As United States Studies Centre (USSC) CEO Dr Michael Green said on the latest episode of the USSC Briefing Room, “Most of the US press corps does not care about AUKUS, so they’re going to look to shoehorn some other story into this...” On this occasion, the press corps has plenty of material to choose from. Only time will tell whether Biden can manage to keep on task and thread the needle on other important priorities including the implementation of AUKUS and the new ‘third pillar’ of the alliance, momentum on climate change. Subscribe to the USSC Briefing Room here. NEWS WRAPNo funding to support Israel without new House speaker
![]() The world's changing, but we have an opportunity to make it so, imagine if we were able to succeed in getting the Middle East put in place where we have normalization of relations.... Imagine what happens if we, in fact, unite all of Europe and Putin is finally put down... We have enormous opportunities, enormous opportunities to make it a better world. President Biden in CBS News 60 Minutes interview | 15 October 2023 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Did you USSC?
EVENT Sydney International Strategy ForumThe inaugural Sydney International Strategy Forum brings together prominent thought leaders, policymakers and industry experts to tackle the big issues confronting Australia, the United States and the Indo-Pacific. From bolstering supply chain resilience to turning AUKUS into reality, the forum will discuss the enormous opportunities and risks posed by such cross-cutting challenges and what they mean for the future of our region. Read more here. Tickets are still available, but strictly limited. Register now to secure your spot. TYPE COST BY THE NUMBERS ![]() How to change the Australian and US constitutionsBy Victoria Cooper, Research Editor Over the weekend, Australians voted against a proposal which would have amended the Australian Constitution to recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. The vote, known as a referendum, is the only way the Australian Constitution can be changed and requires a ‘double majority’ – a national majority of voters and at least four of the country’s six states – to pass. There have been 45 referendums since the Australian Constitution took effect in 1901; only eight have been successful, and none without bipartisan support. By contrast, the US Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratification in 1789. Changes to the US Constitution do not involve a compulsory vote. Instead, constitutional changes require an onerous proposal and ratification process whereby an amendment proposal is requested by either a two-thirds vote of both legislative chambers, or two-thirds of states; and then is ratified by three-quarters of the US State legislatures or three-quarters of state ratifying conventions in each state. While the US Constitution has been changed more than the Australian Constitution, it has also faced approximately 11,848 proposals for amendment. Manage your email preferences | Forward this email to a friend United States Studies Centre |