No images? Click here 24 April 2024Will Ukraine funding be enough to secure a 2024 win?A US$95.3 billion foreign aid bill will finally land on President Biden’s desk after it passed the House by a 311–112 vote and the Senate by a 79–18 vote, following months of delays by hardline House Republicans and growing uncertainty about the future of US commitments to Ukraine. The sweeping package delivers US$61 billion in funding for Ukraine, U$26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza and US$8.12 billion for Taiwan and to “counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific. The result comes after an abrupt shift from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had previously opposed further Ukraine funding but ultimately pushed the package (divided into four separate bills) through the House with Democratic support after months of opposition from sceptical House Republicans. The future of Johnson’s speakership may now hang in the balance, with Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene calling for his resignation and flagging a motion to vacate the speakership. The passage of the bill is a legislative win for the Biden administration, which had lobbied for the legislation for months and hopes to avoid foreign policy escalations in a delicate election year. Former president Trump also appeared to give tacit approval to Johnson’s actions, praising the speaker after the bill’s passage through the House. With the bill now approved, Biden will be hoping that he has done enough for the time being not only to support US allies overseas, but to secure his foreign policy credentials ahead of the November presidential election. NEWS WRAPTrump trial continues
"Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: we stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression." Remarks from President Joe Biden following Senate passage of the national security package | 23 April 2024 EVENT Economic security in a turbulent worldThe world economy is undergoing a patchwork reversal of global integration as major powers seek to “de-risk” key economic relationships and use new policy tools to boost domestic investment in strategic industries. The United States Studies Centre invites you to join us as we convene a major international conference — “Economic Security in a Turbulent World” — to discuss these issues, bringing together policymakers, business executives and leading experts from the United States, Europe, and Asia, as well as from Australia. Register now for the opportunity to learn from leading experts in geopolitics and economic policy and engage in robust and interactive discussion on the key issues facing Australia, the United States and the Alliance. TYPE WHEN COST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Did you USSC?
BY THE NUMBERS Global energy transition investment must quadruple to reach climate goalsOn the Was COP28 one step forward, two steps back? episode of the USSC Briefing Room, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Lachlan Carey, Manager at RMI, shared this stat regarding the global energy transition. “I think spending is an incredibly powerful indicator of revealed preference and whether we’re meeting our goals... If we boil it down to what it’s really going to take, the IEA (International Energy Agency) estimates that we need something in the order of $4 trillion a year spent on the clean energy transition in order to meet our goals. It’s about 4 per cent of the globe’s annual economic output. Today, we’re at about $1.1 trillion a year, so we’re still a long way off meeting that target. It gives you a sense of the scale. And about a quarter of that $1.1 trillion comes from government spending. So, I think the combination of those three numbers helps us to sort of parse out what this is really going to take. We need to almost quadruple the amount we’re going to spend. But most of that is going to come from the private sector. The government’s role here is to de-risk the technologies that the private sector doesn't trust yet, to build out the infrastructure and to create this sort of supportive investment ecosystem for the private sector to pick up these technologies and run with them. Because we’ve seen in the extraordinary growth in solar, wind, EVs and EV batteries in particular, that there is appetite in the private sector to do this, and we just need to get our act together and turn that 1.1 figure into a $4 trillion figure.” Manage your email preferences | Forward this email to a friend United States Studies Centre |