NEWS WRAP

Landmark US-Chinese defence talks

• Face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese counterpart? | China and the United States may hold the first face-to-face meeting between their top defence officials since 2019, according to The Wall Street Journal. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Wei Fengheon on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore later this month. READ MORE HERE
   

• Biden names "rational Republicans" for negotiating gun control | President Biden named Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-TX) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) as “rational Republicans” he can work with to legislate a compromise on gun control. Biden pointed to the possibility of expanding background checks and limiting the sale of certain weapons. READ MORE HERE
   

• Republicans, musicians cancel NRA convention appearances | While former president Donald Trump used the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention to emphasis Americans' right to bear arms a number of Republicans cancelled the event in the aftermath of the Uvalde primary school shooting. Governor Greg Abbott, Lt Governor Dan Patrick and John Cornyn (R-TX) all pulled out of their planned appearances at the NRA's annual conference. READ MORE HERE
   

• Fiji joins the US Indo-Pacific Economic Framework | Fiji has become the first Pacific country to join the Biden Administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). The membership now includes 14 countries, including Australia. The announcement came amid Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's eight-country Pacific Islands tour and as well as visits to the region by new Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. READ MORE HERE
   

• New data: US inflation may have peaked | The pace of US price increases may be slowing halting the need for further interest rate rises. The US personal consumption expenditure price index, which measures the prices Americans pay for goods and services, rose 6.3 per cent in April after increasing 6.6 per cent in March. Australian-based GSFM investment strategist, Stephen Miller, said investors are within their rights to conclude that inflation has peaked. READ MORE HERE

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 about 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

Will the Texas school shooting lead to US gun reform? Sadly not

Brendon O'Connor 
Associate Professor at the United States Studies Centre

Mass shootings in the United States are all too common and, sadly, unsurprising to much of the world. But when the victims of such violence are primary school students, the world takes notice.

Coverage of this week’s mass shooting at a Texas elementary school in the coming days will follow a predictable pattern. After all the horrifying details are released of the shooting, we return to a very simple debate: why can’t America stop the scourge of gun violence? The reason is that gun violence is emblematic of a broken political system that fails to protect its own citizens.

Frequent mass shootings are one of the most widely known things about the US internationally, and are a stain on the country’s international reputation.

President Joe Biden came to office promising to restore some measure of faith in American democracy, and to prove the American system was a superior model to that of autocratic great powers such as China and Russia.

But when it comes to curbing gun violence in America, a very different international narrative takes hold. Global audiences often see the failure to take aggressive action against gun violence as a symptom of a dysfunctional system of government incapable of protecting its own citizens, including children.

This article was first published in The Conversation

BY THE NUMBERS

Stark contrast in Australian, US gun deaths

Gun-related deaths are a fixture in American life and there were 12.09 deaths per 100,000 people, according to 2019 data from gunpolicy.org. For Australia, the rate was 0.90 per 100,000 people showing the significant contrast between the two countries.  

In a disturbing US trend, firearms killed more children and adolescents in 2020 than car accidents, the previous leading cause of death for young people, according to the Washington Post. 

VIDEO

What's next for NATO in the Indo-Pacific after Ukraine? Dr Michael Green, Dr Gorana Grgic

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February altered the European security architecture for generations to come. One clear piece of evidence of this: Finland and Sweden announcing they will be formally applying for membership in the NATO alliance. 

How does this change NATO’s relationship with Russia? Given the significant military resources consumed in Ukraine, are NATO allies decreasing their focus or resourcing in the Indo-Pacific? 

To discuss these issues, the United States Studies Centre hosted a webinar discussion with USSC Senior Lecturer in US Politics and Foreign Policy Dr Gorana Grgic in conversation with incoming USSC CEO Dr Mike Green. 

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

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

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