NEWS WRAP

Caroline Kennedy confirmed

• Caroline Kennedy named US ambassador | The US Senate officially confirmed Caroline Kennedy, a former ambassador to Japan and daughter of the late President John F Kennedy, as the US ambassador to Australia. Her confirmation falls weeks after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China. READ MORE HERE
   

• Jill Biden’s secret Ukraine visit | US first lady Jill Biden made a secret visit to Ukraine, holding a surprise Mother’s Day meeting with the nation’s first lady, Olena Zelensky. US President Joe Biden has not visited the country, but hinted his security advisers held him back.  READ MORE HERE
   

• Abortion debate to impact midterms | Democrats and Republicans are already preparing for how a reversal of Roe v. Wade would affect the 2022 midterm elections. The court’s forthcoming final opinion in the crucial Mississippi case now before it, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, could alter prior predictions of major Republican wins. READ MORE HERE
   

• US interest rate rises to record levels | Amid fast-rising prices, the US central bank has announced its biggest interest rate increase – half a percentage point – in more than two decades. With US inflation at a 40-year high, further hikes are expected. The push marks the latest effort to contain spiking costs being felt by US households. READ MORE HERE
   

• New White House press secretary announced | US President Joe Biden appointed Karine Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary — the first black woman and openly gay person to serve in the role. Ms Jean-Pierre has served as Mr Biden's principal deputy press secretary since his Inauguration Day in January 2021. READ MORE HERE

WEBINAR | 7 JULY

A documentary history of the United States with Alexander Heffner

In an age dominated by terms like fake news and disinformation, what are the facts of the history of the United States? In the updated edition of A Documentary History of the United States, Alexander Heffner revisits primary sources to tell the unvarnished history of the United States – compiling the key documents, speeches, letters, tweets and Supreme Court decisions from the Declaration of Independence to Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump following the January 6 insurrection. What do we learn from examining these primary sources? Which documents are critical to understand the pandemic and its impact on the United States? What significance do these primary source documents have for Australia?

To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar event featuring co-author and host of The Open Mind on PBS Alexander Heffner.

WHEN:
SYDNEY | Thursday, 7 July 2022 | 10:00-11:00am AEST
WASHINGTON DC | Wednesday, 6 July 2022 | 8-9:00pm EDT

COST:
Free but registration is essential.

You can also subscribe to have event invitations and reminders sent straight to your inbox, so you never have to miss an event!

ANALYSIS

Could Honiara be Havana revisted?

Stephen Loosley
Non Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre

The brilliant film director Stanley Kubrick captured on celluloid the absurdities of the first Cold War. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a wickedly funny cinematic account of how easily the world might have slipped into a nuclear confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union in the early 1960s.

Satire works best when there is a clear connection to reality. The truly terrifying element of Dr Strangelove is that it demonstrated that it was very possible to sleepwalk into a nuclear holocaust. The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 still represents exhibit 1.

Now Honiara 2022 is not Havana 1962. Not yet. But if ignored, that’s exactly what the nations of the South Pacific, including Australia, would be confronting.

This is an excerpt from an article published by The Australian

BY THE NUMBERS

One million US COVID deaths

This week, the United States surpassed one million COVID-19 related deaths. A quarter of which are considered preventable through vaccination. Two-thirds of COVID related deaths in the US since July 2021 (and “Independence-from-the-virus” Day) were in unvaccinated people.

Australia is among the most successful in the world in terms of its share of population vaccinated. Approximately 85 per cent of Australians have received at least two doses of the vaccine. Australia recorded 7,500 COVID-19 related deaths since the start of the pandemic – 10 times less the amount per capita than the United States (30 deaths per 100,000 people in Australia; compared to 300 per 100,000 in the United States).

VIDEO

Congress, the White House and democracy at a crossroads: A conversation with Larry Sabato

What are the prospects for a Republican-controlled Congress and what will be their agenda? What could all this mean for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections? What should Australians look for as the United States votes?

To discuss these issues, the United States Studies Centre hosted a webinar featuring Dr Larry Sabato, one of America's most distinguished political scientists and founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics in conversation with USSC's Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe and Research Associate Victoria Cooper.

Catch more analysis on the United States on the USSC YouTube channel.

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#MothersDay