No images? Click here August 2023Women in the Alliance launches in SydneyLast night, the United States Studies Centre (USSC) had the immense pleasure of launching the Women in the Alliance initiative. Spearheaded by Alice Nason, Sophie Mayo and Victoria Cooper, the Women in the Alliance initiative will facilitate cross-border and cross-sectoral dialogue on key alliance issues including trade and investment, diplomacy and development, defence, space and critical technologies, and climate resilience. At the launch event at The Mint in Sydney, former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said, “To reflect the words of Eleanor Roosevelt as she told The Age, ‘The viewpoint of women must be taken into account; the perspective of women must be heard in order to create the kind of world in which we all wish to live.” US Consul-General in Sydney Christine Elder also spoke at the event and Aurora Education Foundation CEO and American Australian Association Ltd in Australia Chair Leila Smith, Representative for Lindsay Melissa McIntosh MP and ABC journalist and broadcaster Geraldine Doogue participated in a panel discussion on “making the alliance a ‘whole of nation’ effort”. Expressions of interest are now open for the first cohort to join the Women in the Alliance initiative. Learn more here. NEWS New USSC websiteYesterday, USSC launched its new website. USSC is always working to find solutions to complex challenges. The new website allows the USSC to reach our full potential through presenting our work in innovative and compelling ways. We invite you to take a look around the new site. In particular, we recommend exploring by topic, looking through the study section and discovering our selection of podcasts. Women in the Alliance network: Expressions of interest now openUSSC is seeking expressions of interest to participate in its inaugural Women in the Alliance network. The network will bring together a highly accomplished group of female professionals working across industries related to the Australia-US relationship. These individuals will receive exclusive opportunities designed to advance and accelerate their careers, amplify their expertise and expand their professional network. Throughout their year-long term, network members will be offered functional professional development in skills including leadership development; presenting with confidence; policy design and creativity; and effective stakeholder engagement. If you or someone you know may be interested, apply now. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through 30 September 2023. New brief tackles nuclear deterrence and de-escalationFrom AUKUS and the Quad to ever-expanding joint military exercises, Australia and the United States have arguably never been so strategically aligned in their seven decades as allies. In Full knowledge and concurrence: Key questions for US-Australia extended deterrence and escalation management consultations, USSC guest author Kelsey Hartigan looks at how Australia and the United States can prepare to manage the risks of nuclear escalation with nuclear-armed adversaries in the Indo-Pacific. This brief outlines a pathway for managing nuclear threats in the region and includes policy recommendations for decision makers in Canberra and Washington. Two new USSC scholarshipsThe USSC has created two new undergraduate scholarships for American Studies students. Each scholarship is for $10,000 and is tenable for up to one year. USSC Undergraduate Indigenous Scholarship in American Studies | This Scholarship was established to assist Aboriginal and Torres Islander students undertaking American Studies at the University of Sydney. APPLY HERE USSC Undergraduate Equity Scholarship in American Studies | This Scholarship was established to provide support to students majoring in American Studies at the University of Sydney who are experiencing financial hardship. APPLY HERE Countering a Taiwan crisis with economics with Adam SmithThe past few years have seen an unprecedented use of economic coercion as a tool of international relations, from sanctions placed on Russia, Iran, and North Korea to the ongoing export control battle between China and the United States. To look at these complex relationships and how they apply to a potential Taiwan crisis, USSC hosted an event with Adam Smith, a world-leading international trade compliance lawyer and former advisor to President Obama, in conversation with USSC Director of Economic Security Hayley Channer. WATCH HERE USSC hosts two congressional staff delegationsThe USSC hosted two congressional staff delegations (StaffDels) this month. First, the Centre hosted a StaffDel with representatives from the offices of Rep. Steve Scalise, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and several congressional committees including the Energy and Commerce Committee, Appropriations Committee and Armed Services Committee. The following week, the Centre held a roundtable with a StaffDel from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Actualising AUKUS continues to be a major focus of the Australia-US discussions and the third pillar of the alliance on technology and clean energy opens a new range of possibilities for closer and faster collaboration between our two countries. First GOP debate recapThe 2024 US presidential election campaign is already making daily headlines in Australia. The first GOP candidate debate this month was a major milestone in the move toward determining the eventual Republican nominee. USSC hosted a live event with US politics experts Associate Prof. David Smith, Dr Gorana Grgic and Victoria Cooper in conversation with Jared Mondschein to break down what happened at the debate and, critically, if any of it was enough to shift the polls, which heavily favour former president Trump. WATCH HERE Welcome to semester 2The American Studies program welcomed both undergraduate and postgraduate students to semester 2 with a series of events. USSC had a bustling booth at the two-day Welcome Fest for undergraduates. This was followed by a Postgraduate Welcome where Dr Rodney Taveira and Madelyne Cummings joined other representatives of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. A look at the Australia-US defence space relationshipThis month, we released The space between alliance and self-reliance: The evolution of the Australia-US defence space relationship. This new report from guest author Dr Tristan Moss examines the rich history in the Australia-US space relationship, it’s role in defence and what this means for the future. With the recent establishment of an Australian Defence Space Command and this year’s AUSMIN consultations announcing ‘Enhanced Space Cooperation’ as a new Australia-US Force Posture Initiative, defence space cooperation is poised to become a key priority for the alliance in the 2020s and beyond. USSC perspectivesThe US presidential election heated up in August with the first GOP candidate debate, but major developments continued on defence innovation and alliances. USSC experts published on the gamut of Australia-US topics across the month.
EVENTS Sydney International Strategy Forum: The United States, Australia and a contested Indo-PacificSupport for alliances is strong in Washington, as the ambitious AUKUS pact charts new territory in critical technologies and sovereign capabilities and diverse Indo-Pacific networks of bilateral, trilateral, and quadrilateral cooperation shape the regional balance of power. At the same time, US allies and partners are expressing concerns about the Biden administration’s industrial policy agenda and US-China trade and technology wars, underscoring the complexities of “friend shoring” and “de-risking” critical supply chains. On the US domestic front, a looming 2024 presidential race and the prospect of another Trump presidency also raises questions about the future of sustained US engagement in the world. The United States Studies Centre invites you to the launch of its flagship conference, the Sydney International Strategy Forum, where these issues, and the enormous risks and opportunities associated with each, will be tackled by prominent experts and thought leaders. Confirmed speakers include Michèle Flournoy, Admiral Phil Davidson, Dr Evan Medeiros, Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi. COST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Videos and podcastsThe latest recordings from our webinars are available on our YouTube channel and USSC Live podcast. Find all of the Centre’s podcast recordings here.
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