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27 February 2026
The United States Studies Centre (USSC) has had a productive and impactful month providing analysis, insights and solutions around everything from analysis of the record-breaking State of the Union address to complex policy challenges around international cooperation on critical minerals. On campus last week, we joined the University of Sydney’s Welcome Fest, where we had our largest amount of engagement ever as hundreds of students came by to answer trivia questions, attend our live seminar and, of course, enjoy some free gelato. Our Semester 1 cohort of interns started this week, and the Institute Building is bustling as we welcome a record number of students into our eight American Studies courses.
On the policy side, USSC has been tackling some of the most challenging issues this month from Taiwan to Quad cooperation. At Parliament House at the beginning of the month, we launched a new report on Australia-Taiwan relations which shares the themes from our discussions with Australian experts across 2025 including Chancellor of the University of Queensland and former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese AO and former Director-General of the Australian Signals directorate Rachel Noble PSM. The final week of the month was Quad Week as we hosted two Quad 1.5 Track Dialogues. While one discussed broad Quad issues and another focused on critical minerals, both featured leaders from academia, think tanks, industry and government in closed-door and solutions-oriented discussions.
In 2026, we cannot talk about the United States without talking about President Trump. However, one question the Centre regularly explores is how an individual president impacts views of the alliance. Every USSC publishes polling on alliance issues and in 2025 we saw that only 16% of Australians say the second Trump term has been good for the country, yet only 17% want to abandon the alliance with the United States. To unpack and understand this dynamic, we are pleased to launch a special qualitative research project in 2026: the National Engagement on the Future of the Alliance. Led by Prof. Benjamin Reilly, this project will conduct forums in every state and territory in Australia to explore views around the US-Australia alliance and the underlying thinking that drives those views. We will publish the findings from this research later this year. If you would like to be notified of the forum that will take place in your locality, please drop us a line at ussc.media@sydney.edu.au and let us know which state you live in.
Thank you for continuing to support the work of the Centre. We have had a strong start to the year and are on track to continue to build momentum as the need for timely, evidence-based analysis and solutions increases.
News
Biggest Welcome Fest ever
Over three days in the middle of February, the Centre participated in its biggest University of Sydney Welcome Fest ever. Prospective American Studies students were treated to free gelato, a prize wheel for answering course-related questions correctly and on the Friday we held a special lunchtime seminar: From Minneapolis to your feed, exploring what is happening in Minnesota and how media shapes politics and vice versa. Hundreds of students signed up to learn more about American Studies and enrolments for Semester 1 are on track to set a new record for the Centre.
Quad Leadership Track 1.5 Dialogue
On 25 February the Centre hosted the Quad Leadership Track 1.5 Dialogue with participants from the four Quad countries, including government officials, policy analysts and academics. Across the course of the day, the dialogue discussed the Quad’s challenges, possible solutions, opportunities for collaboration and future agenda. Topics discussed included:
- Maritime and transnational security cooperation
- Energy, critical minerals and supply chain security
- Critical and emerging technologies
- Opportunities in minilaterals beyond the Quad
This dialogue was kindly supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Report launch at Parliament House
To look ahead at 2026, the Centre hosted a special event at Parliament House in Canberra: Strategy, uncertainty and alliances in the Indo-Pacific region. Across two panel discussions, the event looked at two questions: Does President Trump have a grand strategy? And Australia-Taiwan relations: What are the policy options and priorities for engagement? The panels included Peter Varghese AO, Chancellor of the University of Queensland and former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Rachel Noble PSM, former Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate with USSC’s CEO Dr Michael Green, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Dr Lavina Lee and Director of Research Jared Mondschein.
At the event the Centre launched one of its most significant reports of the year: Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagement. This report shares emerging themes from a panel of 13 Australian foreign policy experts including former government officials, business leaders and think tank and academic researchers shared over the course of 2025.
New qualitative research on the US-Australia alliance
In honour of the milestone year for the US-Australia alliance we are launching the National Engagement on the Future of the Alliance project. The USSC is known for its quantitative polling into alliance issues, but we want to couple this data with qualitative insights into views of the US-Australia alliance. In 2026, the USSC will run a series of national conversations across Australia on the Australia-US Alliance, the defining security relationship for our country in an era of unprecedented change in the international order and the politics of the United States. The National Engagement on the Future of the Alliance will conduct public consultations in each state and territory.
Led by Prof. Benjamin Reilly, the aim of each consultation will be to engage with Australians from different backgrounds about how they conceive of and experience the alliance. This will illuminate the national contours of thinking on the alliance and the public understanding and acceptance which underpins it. The findings will be shared in a final report later this year.
USSC-UCLA Study Abroad is open for applications
Attention undergraduate University of Sydney students from all faculties: Applications for the 2026 USSC-UCLA Study Abroad Program are open! Swap Sydney winter for LA summer, take two UCLA courses for University of Sydney credit. During your six-week winter break from late June, you can make LA your city.
You will study at a world-class university with access to UCLA’s world-class facilities, gyms, sport, libraries, and the kind of campus life you only really find in the United States. Outside of the classroom you will be surrounded by palm-tree sunsets, beach afternoons, galleries and museums, and find yourself asking, “Is this a movie set?” (Spoiler alert: In LA, it just might be).
Don't miss out on your chance to be part of the action during the FIFA World Cup.
Places are limited, so register now so you do not miss out.
Roundtable with Amb. Kurt Tong
Managing Partner at The Asia Group Amb. Kurt Tong joined the Centre for a closed-door roundtable earlier this month. Amb. Tong has held diplomatic position in China and Japan and was previously Ambassador to APEC. The discussion covered a range of issues relating to economic and diplomatic trends between the United States and Asia from the first Trump administration through to today.
Quad Critical Minerals Track 1.5 Dialogue
Keeping with the Quad theme for the month, the Economic Security team hosted a Quad Critical Minerals Track 1.5 Dialogue convening government, business and research representatives from all four Quad countries to advance the policy agenda around critical minerals cooperation. Over the course of the day, experts discussed:
- Meeting the moment: The FORGE and Quad cooperation to secure critical mineral supply
- What, where, why? Cooperation options to fill mineral supply chain gaps
- How? Partnering with industry, financing tools and lessons from existing cooperation
- Now the hard part: From discussion to action
By the end of the day, creative solutions were developed to advance both quick wins and make progress on some of the longstanding challenges facing the Quad critical minerals agenda.
This Track 1.5 Dialogue was supported by the US Department of State.
Roundtable with Dana Stroul
The Centre was delighted to welcome Dana Stroul, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East (2021-2023) for a closed-door roundtable. Currently Director of Research and Shelly and Michael Kassen Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Ms Stroul is an expert in the development and execution of US defence policy in the Middle East. The discussion canvassed a wide range of topics from the current negotiations with Iran to the Board of Peace.
Recent content from us
REPORTAustralia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagementIn 2025, USSC convened Australian experts to assess Canberra's policy settings towards Taiwan. In this report, USSC Senior Defence Adviser Prof. Peter Dean, La Trobe Centre for Global Security Director Prof. Bec Strating, USSC Director of Economic Security Hayley Channer, Australian National University Professor of Strategic Studies Brendan Taylor and USSC Senior Research Associate Esther Soulard share the emerging themes from discussions with the panel of experts. |
BRIEFAustralia’s innovation, science and technology environment: Providing a rationale for universities’ contributions to AUKUS Advanced CapabilitiesIn this brief, Senior Adviser for Defence Strategy Prof. Peter Dean, Senior Research Associate Esther Soulard and Non-Resident Fellow Adeline Williams explore the untapped potential for Australia's university R&D for AUKUS Pillar II. |
EXPLAINERWhat’s in Trump’s new National Defense Strategy?USSC Research Fellow Tom Corben and USSC Research Associate Tara Luckock with the Foreign Policy and Defence Program analyse the new National Defense Strategy released by the Trump administration and how it relates to the National Security Strategy from a month prior. |
PODCASTUSSC Briefing Room | Mike Green and Lavina Lee on Iran, Venezuela, Greenland and Carney’s speechIn this episode, USSC CEO Dr Michael Green and USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Dr Lavina Lee share their candid assessments of US foreign intervention in Venezuela, Greeenland and Iran and their views of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at Davos. |
PODCASTUSSC Briefing Room | Is AUKUS Pillar II a solution in need of a problem?Non-Resident Fellow Sophie Mayo and Research Fellow Tom Corben join Director of Engagement and Impact Mari Koeck on the podcast to discuss AUKUS Pillar II, whether it is fit for purpose and how it can best deliver a return on investment in the near term. |
EXPLAINERMAHASAGAR: India’s global maritime vision explained — and where does Australia fit2025 Maitri Fellow Rushali Saha breaks down India's Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR) initiative and what it means for Australia. |
Event replay
The future of the Quad in the age of Trump
In case you missed out on tickets to our sold-out event, the recording is now online.
The United States Studies Centre hosted this public event following a day of closed-door discussion at the second Quad Leadership Track-1.5 Dialogue. The panel discussed the regional challenges facing the four Quad countries and outlined key areas for cooperation, including on economic security, transnational security and critical technologies — as well as how to deepen the agenda beyond the Quad amongst other regional partners. Panel of experts:
- USSC CEO Dr Michael Green
- USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Dr Lavina Lee
- Center for Strategic and International Studies Senior Advisor and Australia Chair Dr Charles Edel
- Observer Research Foundation America Executive Director Dhruva Jaishankar
Moderated by Sydney Morning Herald Foreign Affairs and National Security Correspondent Matthew Knott.
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United States Studies Centre
Institute Building (H03)
University of Sydney NSW 2006
