NEWS WRAP

COP28 overshadowed by UAE comments

• Climate clash | The COP28 climate summit in Dubai came under a cloud as UAE COP president Sultan Al Jaber said there is "no science" behind the phase-out of fossil fuels, even as UN Secretary General António Guterres described it as essential and the Biden administration announced a policy to slash methane emissions. READ MORE HERE
   

• Promotion blockade ends | Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville lifted his months-long blockade of hundreds of US military promotions that he had instituted to protest against the Pentagon's abortion policy. Tuberville had come under intense criticism from both sides of the political aisle for hurting the US military due to his position. READ MORE HERE
   

• Keeping Kyiv waiting | Amid tepid support in Congress for further aid to Ukraine, negotiators are struggling to agree on a specific aid package as available funding rapidly diminishes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy abruptly cancelled a briefing with US senators this week, leaving the impasse unresolved. READ MORE HERE
   

• Job vacancy in New York | New York Republican Congressman George Santos became just the third House representative to be expelled from the chamber since the Civil War, following a series of damaging scandals and criminal indictments. Over 100 Republicans sided with Democrats to support the motion. READ MORE HERE
   

• A second third-party bid? | Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of former president Donald Trump, said in an interview that she is considering a third-party presidential run to prevent a Trump re-election. Cheney would be the second high-profile figure to launch a third-party bid, following Robert F Kennedy Jr's campaign. READ MORE HERE​​

DID YOU USSC?

• COMMENTARY | Henry Kissinger has died. The titan of US foreign policy changed the world, for better or worse
  Non-Resident Senior Fellow Lester Munson writes for The Conversation on the contested legacy of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died on 29 November. Munson says "the magnitude of his influence on the geopolitics of the free world cannot be overstated." READ MORE HERE
   
• PODCAST | USSC Briefing Room | IPEF report card following APEC
  Some early harvest provisions on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) were announced at the APEC Summit last month, but questions remain over their value for IPEF member countries. Economic Security Director Hayley Channer and Research Associate Samuel Garrett discuss their assessment of IPEF post APEC with Research Director Jared Mondschein. LISTEN HERE
   
• INTERVIEW | Tensions between Australia and France continue to thaw
  Tensions between Australia and France have improved following a meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers. Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Professor Peter Dean told Sky News that "France is a genuine Indo-Pacific power" and has "committed to increasing their presence in their region." WATCH HERE
   
• COMMENTARY | Where the 'other' 2024 Republican candidates stand on Australia and the world
  Keep checking in with the USSC's Republican presidential foreign policy tracker to stay across the latest comments and policies from the 2024 candidates, including their views on China, Israel and climate change, ahead of the next primary debate tomorrow. READ MORE HERE

EVENT

Taiwan's upcoming election: The implications for Australia

Although global attention is focused on the upcoming US presidential election in November 2024, a key regional election looms much sooner — the Taiwanese presidential election on 13 January. The contest to succeed the term-limited President Tsai Ing-Wen has already seen intrigue and drama, with four candidates vying for Taiwan’s highest office and, at one stage, two of them mulling a joint bid to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Frontrunner and current vice president William Lai's views on independence have been the source of much discussion and, with high tensions in the Taiwan Strait and belligerent rhetoric from Beijing, the results of the election will hold significant implications for the entire region.

How might the election affect cross-strait relations? What are the possible implications of the election for Australia? How could the election shift Taiwan policies in Washington and other allied capitals?

To answer these questions, please join us for a live panel discussion with Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Dr Lavina Lee and USSC CEO Dr Michael Green in conversation with USSC Research Director Jared Mondschein, with opening remarks from Taiwanese Representative to Australia Douglas Hsu.

TYPE
Public event

WHERE
Auditorium, The Michael Spence Building (F23),
Corner of Eastern Avenue and City Rd, 
University of Sydney, Camperdown NSW

WHEN
7 December 2023, 6.00pm-7.30pm AEDT

BY THE NUMBERS

Tendons rise, candidates fall in 2024 GOP field

By Samuel Garrett, Research Associate

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum notoriously ruptured his Achilles tendon playing basketball the night before the first Republican primary debate in August but persevered to manoeuvre the debate stage on crutches. He had since been campaigning with his leg on a knee scooter. Burgum's insistence on reaching the debate stage, despite his injury, highlights the importance of the national profile offered by primary debates for minor candidates.

With Burgum's withdrawal this week from the 2024 race, the average number of non-ruptured Achilles tendons per Republican presidential candidate has increased to two, up from 1.875 this time last month. Since Burgum's injury, the average had been declining until today's announcement, which boosted the average to levels not seen since before the first Republican debate.

While frontrunners such as former President Trump can afford to skip the debates, they are essential to the election strategies of lesser-known presidential hopefuls who hope for a breakout moment that will attract media coverage and donor attention. Indeed, Burgum's own campaign suspension was driven by his failure to qualify for the upcoming fourth debate tomorrow in Alabama.

Just four candidates will now be on the debate stage, each vying to become the leading Republican alternative to overwhelming frontrunner Trump. With six weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses and candidates like Burgum and former Vice President Mike Pence out of the running, it remains to be seen who will still be standing on their own two feet come January.

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

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