NEWS WRAP

Regional ‘arms race’ escalates

• Australia to buy US missiles | The Albanese government has announced plans to purchase A$7 billion in long-range missiles from the United States. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the investment would strengthen deterrence. “We live in the greatest arms race in our region since 1945, with a high degree of strategic uncertainty,” he said. READ MORE HERE
   

• US report questions AUKUS | A Congressional Research Service report suggested that Australia could forgo plans to acquire US nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) and allow US submarines to operate from Australian shores instead. The USSC’s Peter Dean rejected the proposal, saying: “The current AUKUS arrangement as it stands is about Australia developing a sovereign capability.” READ MORE HERE
   

• Blinken’s final ceasefire push | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Israel to try and secure a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the war in Lebanon. In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he also urged Israel to allow aid convoys into Gaza, according to a State Department spokesman. READ MORE HERE
   

• Elon Musk’s $1M giveaways | Campaign law experts have questioned the legality of Elon Musk’s million-dollar giveaways to voters in swing states. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and the owner of X is giving the money to voters who sign his online petition backing tenets of the US Constitution. US federal law makes it illegal to pay for votes. READ MORE HERE
   

• McConnell dishes on Trump | A new biography on Mitch McConnell details the Senate Minority Leader’s deep misgivings about Trump, who he described as “ill-tempered" and a "narcissist.” The Price of Power was written by veteran political editor Michael Tackett and is set for release on 29 October, a week before the election. READ MORE HERE

EVENT

New speakers announced

The USSC is delighted to confirm the remaining speakers for its second inaugural Sydney International Strategy Forum (SISF) on 20 November 2024.

Titled: The future of American leadership and a contested Asia, the forum will explore how the next US administration will work with Australia, Japan and others to address key challenges in the region, providing unrivalled insight into the next steps on AUKUS, defence cooperation and US trade policy.

The new speakers include US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (virtual), former Chief of the Australian Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret’d), former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Heino Klinck, DFAT First Assistant Secretary Peter Sawczak, former Australian Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos AO and renowned Australian journalists Peter Hartcher, Geraldine Doogue AO, Cameron Stewart and Paul Kelly.

WHEN
20 November 2024

WHERE
The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Martin Place, Sydney, NSW 2000

COST 
Standard ticket $750, student ticket $400

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Did you USSC?

• PODCAST |  AI, disinformation and the US presidential election
  USSC Non-Resident Fellow Helen Zhang joined Mari Koeck, the host of the USSC's Briefing Room podcast to discuss the new perils to elections in the information age. LISTEN HERE
   
• BRIEF | The South Korea-Australia partnership: State of play
  USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Professor Peter Dean on the evolution of the South Korea-Australia relationship and where to from here. READ HERE
   
• COMMENTARY | Has Kamala Harris reached the ceiling of her ability to make gains against Trump?
  USSC Director of Research Jared Mondschein on reaching peak Harris. READ HERE
   
• BRIEF | Operationalising the Quad: Maritime security and climate change in the Indo-Pacific
  USSC Women in the Alliance Network member Kate Clayton on the case for enhanced Quad cooperation on maritime security and climate change. READ HERE
   
• COMMENTARY | Track two dialogue is key to unlocking Quad–ASEAN cooperation
  USSC Research Associate Ava Kalinauskas on the Quad's need to reshape its identity beyond the confines of major power rivalry. READ HERE
   
• COMMENTARY | Donald Trump and Peter Dutton have both embraced populism. Are working-class voters buying it?
  USSC Associate Professor David Smith on Trump and Dutton's rebuke of 'big business.' READ HERE
   
• COMMENTARY | How podcasters became the vanguard of the US election 
  USSC Research Associate Ava Kalinauskas on how the candidates are leveraging alternative media to reach undecided voters. READ HERE

BY THE NUMBERS

South Korea-Australia ties grow

Economic cooperation has been one of the key foundations of the Australia-South Korea bilateral relationship. In his new brief The South Korea-Australia partnership: State of play, USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Professor Peter Dean highlights that in 2023, South Korea was Australia’s third-largest export market valued at A$43.6 billion, behind only China (A$218.8 billion) and Japan (A$90.2 billion). South Korea was also Australia’s fourth-largest trading partner in 2023 valued at A$70.9 billion.

Even more significantly, South Korea has been among Australia’s top trading partners for almost 40 years. The 2014 Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement saw two-way trade more than double over the past decade. Today, strong government-to-government and business-to-business cooperation is taking place in priority sectors such as renewable energy, critical minerals, supply chain resilience, industrial manufacturing, and science and technology, among others.

Read more in The South Korea-Australia partnership: State of play by USSC Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Professor Peter Dean.

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

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