USSC Live

The Biden administration is seeking approval of its first major piece of legislation, the second impeachment trial for Donald Trump has begun, and battles within the Democratic and Republican parties are being fought for all to see. Will the Biden administration successfully pass a US$1.9 trillion stimulus package? Will the Republican Party ever veer away from Donald Trump? What are the prospects for bipartisanship? The United States Studies Centre hosted a webinar featuring Mia Love, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow and former member of Congress, in conversation with Bruce Wolpe, USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow and former Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill.

The United States Studies Centre and Perth USAsia Centre host a monthly web series reviewing the latest in US politics and policy and what this means for Australia. The first edition of 2021 was on Friday 5 February. With the transition of power behind, a new administration and Congress ahead, there was much for CEO of the United States Studies Centre Simon Jackman and CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre Gordon Flake to discuss and interpret.

President-elect Biden has made clear that his administration will be different than any before. He has also pledged his team will reflect the diversity of America and he is seeking known collaborators, rather than "a team of rivals" that President Obama famously referenced with his first Cabinet. Yet President-Elect Biden was elected by an exceedingly divided and polarised country and he will need to reconcile a number of factions, even within his own party. Will Biden’s Cabinet reflect his campaign promises? What does the proposed Biden Cabinet mean for Australia and its national priorities? What is the best approach for Australia to engage with new leadership in Washington? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring USSC experts Dr Gorana Grgic, Dr Jennifer Hunt, Professor Simon Jackman and Bruce Wolpe.

The United States is in the grips of a singular moment in history. An emboldened community of conspiracy theorists is spreading rampant disinformation about the presidential election and the efficacy and intention of COVID-19 vaccines. Record numbers of Americans are testing positive for the virus and President Trump, who downplayed its threat, is taking credit for the arrival of vaccines while disputing President-elect Biden’s win. The spread of online conspiracy theories has already had tangible impacts. After vicious anti-5G conspiracy theories, the rollout of 5G towers in the United Kingdom was interrupted by dozens of fire bombings and attacks. How can the United States and Australia traverse this clash of online disinformation and conspiracy theories with the real-world rollout of a vaccine program and a presidential transition? How has this landscape enabled hostile actors to influence US politics, and what are the implications for Australia and the world? The United States Studies Centre hosted a discussion on these issues and more with the award-winning investigative journalist for NBC News Brandy Zadrozny and USSC Non-resident Fellow and Lecturer at the National Security College at ANU, Dr Jennifer Hunt in conversation with USSC Research Associate Elliott Brennan.

The Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre host a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the US elections and US-Indo-Pacific relations. USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake shared their insights on the top stories in US politics from an Australian perspective.

In a year when so much has changed, it is important to step back and search for silver linings. This is the spirit of the American Thanksgiving tradition, and it is with this noble practice in mind that the United States Studies Centre would like to invite you to a gathering of friends for a Thanksgiving webinar featuring US Ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. and Australian Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos in conversation with USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman. What aspects of the US-Australia relationship can we appreciate more as a result of the trials of 2020? How have the dynamics changed? What should we focus on as we head into 2021?

It has become conventional wisdom in Washington that despite entrenched political polarisation, a tougher stance on China is bipartisan. But with only two months until the Biden administration begins, will this be proven correct? How will the Biden administration's approach to China and the Indo-Pacific be different from the Trump administration's? What issues with China will the Biden administration prioritise? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar event with Axios China Reporter, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian in conversation with USSC Senior Non-Resident Fellow and former Senior Advisor to the Australian Foreign Minister, Dr John Lee. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian covers Beijing's influence and intentions and writes the weekly Axios China newsletter. Based in Washington, DC, she was also the lead writer of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists report known as the "China Cables", which detailed classified Chinese government documents revealing the inner workings of China’s detention camps in Xinjiang. Bethany was previously a national security reporter for The Daily Beast and an editor and reporter for Foreign Policy magazine. She was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Berlin and was previously a Jefferson Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She previously spent four years in China. Allen-Ebrahimian holds an MA in East Asian studies from Yale University, as well as a graduate certificate from the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. Dr John Lee is an Adjunct Professor and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, the lead ministerial adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, and her principal adviser on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs in the lead-up to the reinstitution of the Quad in 2017.

To carry out China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China promises to spend more than US$1 trillion on new ports, railways, fibre-optic cables, power plants, and other connections across more than one hundred and thirty countries. The United States has cautioned that the BRI, President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign-policy effort, amounts to “debt trap diplomacy”, “white elephants”, and an unprecedented expansion of Chinese military power. Yet some have said the United States and allies have failed to provide a sufficient “alternative” to BRI. How should the United States and allies like Australia respond? The conventional wisdom is that a more skeptical view of China is bipartisan in the United States but would a Biden administration’s response to BRI be substantively different from the Trump administration’s? USSC hosted a discussion of the United States, Australia and China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Jonathan E. Hillman, author of the recently published The Emperor’s New Road: China and the Project of the Century (Yale University Press, 2020), in a conversation with the Australian Financial Review’s Lisa Murray. Jonathan E. Hillman is a senior fellow with the CSIS Economics Program and director of the Reconnecting Asia Project, one of the most extensive open-source databases tracking China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Hillman has testified before Congress, briefed government officials and Fortune 500 executives, and written on economics, national security, and foreign policy issues for the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other outlets. Prior to joining CSIS, Hillman served as a policy adviser at the Office of the US Trade Representative, where he contributed to the 2015 US National Security Strategy and the President’s Trade Agenda and directed the research and writing process for essays, speeches, and other materials explaining US trade and investment policy. He has also worked as a researcher at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations, and in Kyrgyzstan as a Fulbright scholar. Lisa Murray is the editor of the Perspective and Review sections for the Australian Financial Review. She was previously based in Shanghai for six years as the AFR’s China correspondent writing about trade, politics and the economy.

he Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre host a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the US election and US-Indo-Pacific relations. This month's distinguished guests Jeff Bleich, former US Ambassador to Australia and Chelsey Martin, former Australian Consul-General in Los Angeles discussed the US election results with USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake.

Every US general election carries implications for Australia. But as they say: this time, it’s different. To most casual observers, the trajectories of the United States under a second Trump administration or a Biden administration seem quite different, as do the implications for Australia. But what is really at stake for Australia? What policy arenas — or elements of politics, the economy, or culture and society of the United States — are likely to be impacted by either election outcome? Among these points of change or continuity, which are of relevance to Australians and Australia’s national interests? How might Australia best respond? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar event to launch the United States Studies Centre’s seminal report for the 2020 presidential election: Red Book/Blue Book: An Australian guide to the next US administration. This event featured Centre experts Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence; Dr Stephen Kirchner, Director of Trade and Investment; Dr Charles Edel, Senior Fellow; and Dr Gorana Grgic, Lecturer in US Politics and Foreign Policy in a conversation with CEO Professor Simon Jackman.

No US president has been more media focused than President Trump. And likewise, no US president has consistently dominated global news cycles like President Trump. While most Australians watch the US presidential election from afar, intrepid Aussie journalists have spent the year in the epicentre of American political drama: Washington. How does the 2020 election compare to others? How do the candidates campaign and how do you cover them during a pandemic? What aspects of campaign journalism have changed forever? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar event with three Australian correspondents in Washington: Cameron Stewart of The Australian, Jacob Greber of The Australian Financial Review, and Matthew Knott of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in a conversation with former ABC Washington Bureau Chief, Zoe Daniel. Cameron Stewart is an Associate Editor and Washington Correspondent for The Australian. This is his eighth US presidential election since he started with the paper and he is working in Washington DC during this pandemic. His investigative reporting covers foreign affairs, defence and national security and he also writes features for the Weekend Australian Magazine and is a regular contributor for Sky News. Jacob Greber is The Australian Financial Review's United States correspondent, based in the paper's Washington bureau, where he's been since mid-2018. He was previously the AFR's economics correspondent in Canberra (2012-2018) and has worked as a journalist for more than 24 years in Australia, Europe and the US, including stints at Bloomberg News and News Ltd. Matthew Knott is North America correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He moved to the US in 2017 to study political journalism at Columbia University in New York. He has travelled to 19 states across America, including recent trips to the battleground states. He has also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. The former federal political reporter was previously based in Parliament House, Canberra. While there he won the Wallace Brown Award for best young reporter in the press gallery. Zoe Daniel was the ABC’s US bureau chief in Washington from December 2015 until December 2019. She was the ABC's South East Asia correspondent from 2009 - 2013 and Africa correspondent from 2005 until 2007. Zoe co-hosted the international news program The World on News 24 and Australia Plus. Zoe is the author of Storyteller, which provides a personal insight into her life as a foreign correspondent, as well as juggling a family.

With the US election less than three weeks away, a lot of commentaries are focused on the “horse race”: who is ahead, who is behind? But regardless of the outcome in November, will Americans unite behind the next administration? What will be the policy priorities of either a Biden administration or a Trump administration’s second term? Will there be room for foreign policy and an Indo-Pacific strategy as America grapples with the health and economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic? Australia has managed its US relationship exceedingly well under President Trump but what risks and opportunities lie ahead for Australia and its national interests under either election outcome? The United States Studies Centre hosted a conversation between President Trump's former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former Australian Ambassador to the United States The Hon Joe Hockey.

With just weeks until the US 2020 presidential election, we examine what is at stake for Australia in either election outcome. Australia's national interests will be impacted very differently under a second Trump term than a Biden administration. What points of continuity and change are we likely to see under either scenario? Aside from the foreign policy implications of the US election results, how else does US politics and policy impact Australian politics, society and culture? Why are so many non-Americans — Australians prominent among them — so enthralled with US politics in general, but this election in particular? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Foreign Editor at The Australian, Greg Sheridan, United States Studies Centre (USSC) CEO Professor Simon Jackman in conversation with former ABC Washington Bureau Chief Zoe Daniel.

America’s strategic position in the Indo-Pacific is under unprecedented strain. Facing an increasingly strong and assertive China and the erosion of its own military-technological edge, the United States can no longer be sure of its ability to maintain deterrence and unilaterally uphold a regional balance of power. Whoever wins the US presidential election will have to address this reality in the context of growing geopolitical and economic disruption wrought by COVID-19. This will require hard choices about the overall size and structure of the US military, its global operations and force posture, the nature of its engagement with allies and partners, and the way it should counter Chinese grey zone coercion and strengthen deterrence. How might a Biden administration address these challenges? Where will US defence priorities and trade-offs evolve? And what could this mean for the US-Australia alliance and America’s other allies and partners in the region? The USSC hosted a webinar featuring Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, former Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (February 2009 to February 2012) in the Obama Administration, who shared her views on these important issues. The webinar was moderated by Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre. Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and former Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she currently serves on the board. Michèle served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defence policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She led the development of the Department of Defense’s 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress. Prior to confirmation, Michèle co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department.

The 2020 campaign continues to break norms and defy expectations. With the bickering and banter from the first debate still resounding, how will Vice President Pence and Senator Harris handle their encounter? Will policy and ideology feature more prominently in the Vice-Presidential debate? Will this presumably less personal, more substantive debate yield insights about the likely policy priorities of either a second Trump administration or a Biden administration? And if so, what are the implications for Australia? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event with USSC Lecturer in US Politics and Foreign Policy Gorana Grgic, Non-Resident Fellow Jennifer Hunt, and Non-Resident Fellow Kim Hoggard in conversation with Associate Professor in American Politics Brendon O’Connor.

The US-China nuclear relationship is growing increasingly complex. In recent years, Beijing has continued to modernise and diversify its nuclear arsenal and Washington has made changes to its nuclear policy that could reinforce these trends. While there is still the relatively low risk of the use of nuclear weapons during a conflict between the two, that risk is rising as political tensions increase. Australia’s interests would be best served by an allied military strategy for balancing China that emphasises conventional capabilities, rather than relying on US nuclear weapons to deter the unlikely prospect of a first-use nuclear attack by China. To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted an event to launch Managing US-China nuclear risks: A guide for Australia, featuring its author, Fiona Cunningham, United States Studies Centre Non-Resident Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University; Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, David Santoro, Vice President and Director for Nuclear Policy Programs at Pacific Forum and Brendan Thomas-Noone, Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at United States Studies Centre.

The Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre host a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the upcoming US election and US-Indo-Pacific relations. This month's guests were Jeff Flake, a Republican who represented Arizona in the US Senate from 2013 to 2019, and Dr Gorana Grgic, Lecturer in US Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre. Flake and Grgic joined USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake for their insights on the top stories in US politics.

The Indo-Pacific has rapidly emerged as the world’s most strategically consequential region in the Asian century. But the regional order is straining under China’s assertive use of coercive statecraft and doubts about the United States’ capacity and willingness to uphold a favourable balance of power. These dynamics are deeply troubling for Australia’s strategic outlook and for the security and prosperity of US allies and partners across the region. A stable and rules-based regional order is, however, still achievable. As Abraham Denmark argues in his new book U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century: Empowering Allies and Partners, America’s Indo-Pacific alliances and partnerships can – if properly harnessed and supported – enable Washington to underwrite long-term stability in the region and successfully navigate the challenges of intensifying strategic competition. To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted the Australian launch of U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century featuring its author Abraham Denmark, Director of the Asia Program and Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia; Ambassador Jane Hardy, Australian Consul-General in Honolulu; and Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre. Abraham M. Denmark is Director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a Senior Fellow at the Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Denmark previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, and has held positions at the national Bureau of Asian Research, the Center for a New American Security, in the US Intelligence community. Ambassador Jane M. Hardy is the Consul-General of the Australian Consulate-General Honolulu, having previously served as the Assistant Secretary, Arms control and Counter-Proliferation Branch in the International Security Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Canberra. Prior to this role, Ambassador Hardy served as Australia's Ambassador to Spain, Andorra and Equatorial Guinea.

Charlie Cook is one of the most authoritative analysts of US elections - an exceptionally trusted and respected voice on the American electorate for nearly four decades. Charlie discussed his overview of the race for the White House and where it stands today - trends, key states and voter demographics, and strengths and weaknesses of President Trump and Vice President Biden - and also the state of play for the Senate and overall House races. What is the state of the race to the White House? Who is winning the battle for Congress? What can Australia expect to see on 3 November? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Editor and Publisher of The Cook Political Report, Charlie Cook in conversation with United States Studies Centre (USSC) Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe and USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman.

Ensuring that elections are free and fair is far from a settled matter in the United States, with courts frequently asked to settle disputes about virtually every element of election administration. In 2020, President Trump and his supporters contend that vote by mail is rife with fraud (in an election cycle where COVID will help drive demand for mail balloting to record levels) and that an election loss would constitute evidence of a rigged election. The vacancy following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg further heightens the tension around the role of the court in the election. Trump’s opponents are casting the election and access to the polls as a struggle for voting rights and democracy itself. Interest groups allied with both sides of politics are launching or preparing for post-election litigation in multiple jurisdictions. What issues are being litigated, by whom, and where? How are these legal challenges being funded? What constitutional and legal arguments are being deployed? What likely role for the US Supreme Court, and what might be the likely outcome? And for the eventual winner, will their victory and governing authority be accepted as legitimate by the American people and the world? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Ruth Greenwood, Co-Director of the Voting Rights and Redistricting Program at the Campaign Legal Center in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman.

BBC New York Correspondent Nick Bryant has studied US elections for decades and saw the election of President Trump in 2016 as inevitable, rather than a fluke. Growing executive overreach, shifting economic and cultural power, and ubiquitous distrust of media and government paved the way for a disruptor with promises of “greatness.” As a Brit in the United States, his observations translate the American experience through a lens Australian’s can understand. Who are the power-brokers and pawns in the 2020 election? Will Americans double down or divert away from MAGA? Is the history of President Trump’s rise also a history of America’s fall? To discuss these issues, the USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Nick Bryant, author of When America Stopped Being Great: A history of the present, in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman.

In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump made immigration a key campaign platform, warning of Mexican “rapists” and criminals coming to the United States. He pledged that a wall on the US-Mexico border would be erected and Mexico would pay for it. Four years later, the US and Mexican presidents have publicly praised each other while a naturalisation ceremony of immigrants to the United States was featured at the Republican National Convention. What has changed in US-Mexico relations? What has the populist left-wing president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, done that differs from his more conventional predecessor? Would Mexico support expanding elements of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to already existing trade agreements with nations like Australia? In this event, New York Times foreign correspondent Mexico Natalie Kitroeff spoke about these issues with Dr Gorana Grgic, a jointly appointed Lecturer at the Department of Government and International Relations and the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

The Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre host a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the upcoming US election and US-Indo-Pacific relations. This month's guest was Mark Textor, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director of C|T Group and the political strategist behind John Howard, Boris Johnson and Tony Abbott. Mr Textor joined USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake for their insights on the top stories in US politics from an Australian perspective hosted by former ABC Washington Bureau Chief Zoe Daniel. Mark Textor is Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director of C|T Group. Best known for his strategic insights, he has held the unique position of being the pollster and electoral strategist behind the election victories for seven Commonwealth prime ministers over scores of elections. Textor has been described by Channel 4 in the UK as “one of the most influential political strategists and pollsters to walk the planet”, and in Australia as “… a genius at transforming raw research into compelling communication”. Former London mayor and now Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who has sought Tex’s counsel on two successful campaigns, confirmed this view; describing Tex as the “sorcerer of numbers”. Zoe Daniel was the ABC’s US bureau chief in Washington from December 2015 until December 2019. She was the ABC's South East Asia correspondent from 2009 - 2013 and Africa correspondent from 2005 until 2007. Zoe co-hosted the international news program The World on News 24 and Australia Plus. Zoe is the author of Storyteller, which provides a personal insight into her life as a foreign correspondent, as well as juggling a family.

Ambassador John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Trump for 453 days. One of America’s most experienced international relations advisors, Bolton has served every Republican president since Reagan. In his time with the Trump administration, he dealt with chemical attacks in Syria, G7 showdowns and the Kim Jong Un negotiations. As an unabashed national security hawk — and given his long and distinguished vita — Bolton's criticisms of Trump’s handling of US foreign policy are credible and compelling, detailed in his book The Room Where it Happened. Our conversation with Ambassador Bolton focussed on elements of Trump administration policy — and changes in US strategic thinking — of relevance to Australia’s national interests: strategic competition with China as a foundation of US policy, evolving expectations of alliance partners, US leadership, the likely direction of US policy under either a second Trump administration or a Biden administration. The webinar event featured Ambassador John Bolton in conversation with United States Studies Centre CEO Professor Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake.

Molly Ball is TIME magazine's national political correspondent and a political analyst for CNN. Her latest book, Pelosi, has been hailed by publishers from The Washington Post to O Magazine. She appears regularly on PBS's Washington Week, CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's This Week, and other television and radio programs. Ball is the winner of numerous awards for her coverage of American politics, including the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize and the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting. She grew up in Idaho and Colorado and lives in the Washington, DC, area with her husband and three children.Dr Charles Edel is Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College, and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. In that role, he advised Secretary of State John Kerry on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the co-author of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019) and author of Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (2014).Dr John Lee is an adjunct professor and non-resident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, the lead ministerial adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, and her principal adviser on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs in the lead-up to the reinstitution of the Quad in 2017.

Thomas L Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist; recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes; and author of seven best-selling books: From Beirut to Jerusalem; The Lexus and the Olive Tree; Longitudes and Attitudes; The World Is Flat; Hot, Flat, and Crowded; That Used to Be Us, which he co-wrote with Michael Mandelbaum and Thank you For Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, was updated and released 2017. Friedman’s foreign affairs column in The New York Times, which he has written since 1995, reports on US domestic politics and foreign policy, Middle East conflicts, international economics, environment, biodiversity, and energy. He has been with The New York Times since 1981.

Courtney Kennedy is director of survey research at Pew Research Center. In this role, she serves as the chief survey methodologist for the Center, providing guidance on all of its research and leading its methodology work. Prior to joining Pew Research Center, Kennedy served as vice president of the advanced methods group at Abt SRBI. Her work has been published in Public Opinion Quarterly, the Journal of Statistics and Methodology and the Journal of Official Statistics. Courtney chaired the American Association of Public Opinion Research taskforce to evaluate the 2016 US Election polls. Professor Simon Jackman commenced as Chief Executive Officer of the United States Studies Centre in April 2016. Jackman’s research has appeared in the leading journals of political science, in a publishing career spanning thirty years. Between 1996 and 2016, he was a Professor of Political Science and Statistics at Stanford University. Jackman served as one of the Principal Investigators of the American National Election Studies, the world’s longest running and most authoritative survey of political behaviour and attitudes, directing this project over both the 2012 and 2016 presidential election cycles.

James Carouso has been at the forefront of economic diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific for much of his career. Prior to joining BGA, he was the senior foreign policy advisor to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. Earlier, Jim served as deputy chief of mission and chargé d’ affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia. He also worked as the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia, in mid-2019.Alex Lynch manages Government Affairs and Public Policy for Google in Australia, where he is responsible for helping Australia successfully adapt as the world economy digitises, increasingly sophisticated digital tools are developed and operationalised, and the nature of work changes. Alex has a decade of experience in strategic reputation and crisis management, and prior to joining the private sector worked for the New Zealand government on matters of national security.Sarah Pearson is the Innovation Lead and Deputy Director-General Innovation of the Department of State Development, Tourism and Innovation in Queensland. Sarah is a leader with global experience and skills in building innovation ecosystems. Prior to taking the lead position in Queensland’s innovation, her roles include Chief Scientist and Chief Innovation Officer at the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Founding CEO of the CBR Innovation Network, PVC Innovation at the University of Newcastle, CEO of ANU Enterprise, management consulting with McKinsey & Co in Sydney, tenured Physics academic at UNE, and global head of Open Innovation at Cadbury plc in Reading UK. Her strategic, research, and innovation skills have also been applied to board positions spanning government, venture capital, tech companies and social impact entities. She holds a Doctorate in Philosophy and is the author on eight international patents, for cancer diagnosis and novel confectionary.Jared Mondschein is a Senior Advisor at the US Studies Centre. He works across all three United States Studies Centre research programs: Foreign Policy and Defence, Trade and Investment, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Jared's analysis has appeared in outlets including ABC, BBC, CNN, Foreign Policy, MSNBC, and Sky News as well as across major Australian mastheads. Previously, Jared was a Research Analyst at Bloomberg BNA in Washington, DC, where he focused on cross-border tax issues. Prior to joining Bloomberg BNA, Jared was a Research Associate in the Asia Studies program of the Council on Foreign Relations, an editorial assistant at Foreign Policy magazine, and an assistant editor at a policy journal in Beijing.Dr John Lee is an adjunct professor and non-resident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, the lead ministerial adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, and her principal adviser on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs in the lead-up to the reinstitution of the Quad in 2017.

The Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre host a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the upcoming US election and US-Indo-Pacific relations. This month's special guest was Evelyn Farkas who was appointed by President Obama to be Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, where she was responsible for US policy toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. In 2020, Ms Farkas was a candidate to represent New York's 17th congressional district. Ms Farkas joined USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake to discuss the top stories in US politics.

Anna Greenberg has over 15 years of experience polling in the political, non-profit and academic sectors. She joined GQR in 2001, after teaching public opinion and survey research methodology at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She was the lead pollster in many successful campaigns including for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor Tom Wolf, Governor Ned Lamont and Congresswoman Lizzie Pannill Fletcher.Professor Simon Jackman commenced as CEO of the US Studies Centre in April 2016. Between 1996 and 2016, he was a Professor of Political Science and Statistics at Stanford University. Jackman's teaching and research centres on public opinion, election campaigns, political participation, and electoral systems with special emphasis on American and Australian politics.

Last month, Indian and Chinese troops were involved in the first clash involving the loss of life on both sides since 1975 in Eastern Ladakh. This latest clash between the two most populous nations in the world was preceded by Chinese troops gathering in multiple areas along the disputed border, the erection of new structures near the line of actual control, and ever more expansive Chinese territorial claims at India’s expense.While both sides are taking steps to de-escalate tensions, the ongoing crisis may have fundamentally altered New Delhi’s view of Beijing. The profound strategic ramifications of this could see India shift decisively towards the United States and its allies such as Australia – giving new impetus and relevance to the Australia-US-India-Japan Quad. Given these dynamics: - Has India’s threat perception of China fundamentally changed as a consequence of the crisis? - How is New Delhi likely to respond militarily, politically and economically? - Is India likely to draw closer to the United States and US allies such as Australia? - Are we entering a new era of deepening cooperation between Quad countries? - Would India’s strategic shift be significantly altered by a Biden administration? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Dr Lavina Lee, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University; Professor C Raja Mohan, Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies; Greg Sheridan, foreign editor at The Australian; and Abhijit Singh, head of the Maritime Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation in India in conversation with USSC Senior Non-Resident Fellow Dr John Lee.

Dr Mira Rapp-Hooper is the Stephen A. Schwarzman senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. Dr Rapp-Hooper’s academic writings have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, Security Studies, and Survival. Her policy writings have appeared in The National Interest, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Quarterly, and her analysis has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and the BBC. Dr Rapp-Hooper was the Asia Policy coordinator for the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.Dr Charles Edel is Senior Fellow at the US Studies Centre. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College, and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. In that role, he advised Secretary of State John Kerry on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the co-author of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019) and author of Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (2014).Dr John Lee is an adjunct professor and non-resident senior fellow at the US Studies Centre. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, the lead ministerial adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, and her principal adviser on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs in the lead-up to the reinstitution of the Quad in 2017.

To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar event featuring many of the officials who created the landmark agreement, including: The Hon. John Howard OM AC – Prime Minister of Australia 1996 - 2007The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO – current Australian Ambassador to the United StatesThe Hon. Joe Hockey – President and Founding Partner of Bondi Partners; former Australian Ambassador to the United States; former Federal TreasurerRobert Zoellick – Senior Counselor at Brunswick Group; former US Trade Representative; former US Deputy Secretary of State; former President of the World Bank Wendy Cutler – Vice President and Managing Director of the Asia Society Policy Institute; former US Deputy Trade Representative Michael Thawley AO – Vice Chairman, Capital Group International; former Australian Ambassador to the United States; former Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and senior public servant The event also featured special video messages from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US Ambassador to Australia A.B. Culvahouse Jr.

Ashley Townshend is Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, where he works on strategic affairs with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Ashley is also founding convenor and co-chair of the US-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue and a lecturer in the Centre’s postgraduate program. A frequent contributor to the Australian and international media, Ashley’s analysis has appeared in outlets such as the Financial Times, CNN, the Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, ABC, and Sky News.Brendan Thomas-Noone is a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre where he works on national security and technology issues, US defence and foreign policy and Indo-Pacific security. A frequent media contributor, Brendan’s research has appeared in national and international newspapers including The Economist, the Australian Financial Review and The Washington Post. Matilda Steward is Research Associate in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program and tutor in US and Australian politics at the United States Studies Centre. Previously, Matilda was a Research Assistant in Sydney University’s Department of Government and International Relations, where she worked on a longitudinal study tracking foreign perceptions of the United States. She completed a semester-long exchange at Georgetown University in Washington DC during her final year of undergraduate study.Jeffrey Wilson is the Research Director at the Perth USAsia Centre. He provides leadership and strategic direction in developing the Centre’s research program across its publications, policy and dialogue activities. Dr Wilson specialises in the regional economic integration of the Indo-Pacific. He has particular expertise in the politics of trade agreements, regional economic institutions, and Australia’s economic ties with Asia. He has been featured in local and international media outlets, contributed to a range of track two dialogues between Australia and key regional partners, and supported policy development through consultancy, publication and advisory work.

Richard Maude joined Asia Society Australia in January 2020 as the inaugural Executive Director, Policy, and Senior Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute — the first senior executive role in the Institute outside the United States. Richard Maude most recently served as Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with a portfolio covering Australia’s bilateral relations with Asia and North America as well as regional political, security, economic and development assistance interests. Previously, Maude was Director-General of the Office of National Assessments.Ashley Townshend is Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, where he works on strategic affairs with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Ashley is also founding convenor and co-chair of the US-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue and a lecturer in the Centre’s postgraduate program. A frequent contributor to the Australian and international media, Ashley’s analysis has appeared in outlets such as the Financial Times, CNN, the Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, ABC, and Sky News.Dr Lynn Kuok is Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies with a focus on international relations, security and law of the Indo-Pacific, particularly the South China Sea dispute. Dr Kuok is also Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. She is a former Brookings expert and has held multiple fellowships including at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Geopolitics.Dr Lavina Lee is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is the author of the book US Hegemony and International Legitimacy: Norms Power and Followership in the Wars on Iraq (Routledge, 2010), and has published numerous articles, book chapters and commentary on Indian foreign and security policy, nuclear proliferation, US foreign policy, and security relations in the Indo-Pacific. She is also the author of the recently published report, Assessing the Quad: Prospects and Limitations of Quadrilateral Cooperation for Advancing Australia’s Interests.

Dr Jennifer L Lawless is the Commonwealth Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. She is the author or co-author of six books, including Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era (with Danny Hayes) and It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office (with Richard L Fox). She is an editor of the American Journal of Political Science, and holds an appointment as a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kim Hoggard is a Non-Resident Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. She worked for two US presidents on policies related to domestic, economic and international affairs, serving as White House Assistant Press Secretary for President Ronald Reagan, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Public Affairs during the second term of the Reagan administration, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs for President George HW Bush. Professor Simon Jackman commenced as Chief Executive Officer of the United States Studies Centre in April 2016. Jackman’s research has appeared in the leading journals of political science, in a publishing career spanning thirty years. Between 1996 and 2016, he was a Professor of Political Science and Statistics at Stanford University. Jackman served as one of the Principal Investigators of the American National Election Studies, the world’s longest-running and most authoritative survey of political behaviour and attitudes, directing this project over both the 2012 and 2016 presidential election cycles. Zoe Daniel was the ABC’s US bureau chief in Washington from December 2015 until December 2019. She was the ABC's South East Asia correspondent from 2009 - 2013 and Africa correspondent from 2005 until 2007. Zoe co-hosted the international news program The World on News 24 and Australia Plus. Zoe is the author of Storyteller, which provides a personal insight into her life as a foreign correspondent, as well as juggling a family.

Christian Brose is currently Chief Strategy Officer of Anduril Industries, a technology start-up that develops national defence capabilities, and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He served as Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee (2015-2018), where he was the youngest person to hold the position in the committee’s history. Before that, he served as Senator John McCain’s senior policy advisor (2009-2015). Brose was previously a speechwriter to two secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and a member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff.Ashley Townshend is Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, where he works on strategic affairs with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Ashley is also founding convenor and co-chair of the US-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue and a lecturer in the Centre’s postgraduate program. A frequent contributor to the Australian and international media, Ashley’s analysis has appeared in outlets such as the Financial Times, CNN, the Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, ABC, and Sky News.

Mia Love served as the US Representative for Utah's 4th district from 2015-2019. She was the first black female Republican elected to Congress. At the start of the 2015 Congress, she was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. She also joined the Congressional Black Caucus after taking her seat.

Dr David Kilcullen is Professor of International and Political Studies at University of New South Wales, Canberra and also serves as Professor of Practice in global security at Arizona State University. Kilcullen is a former soldier and diplomat, and a scholar of guerrilla warfare, terrorism, urbanisation and the future of conflict, who served 25 years for the Australian and United States governments. During the Iraq War, he served in Baghdad as a member of the Joint Strategic Assessment Team, then as Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Multi-National Force Iraq in 2007, before becoming Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008. Kilcullen was named one of the Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2009.

Jonathan Swan is an Australian journalist and the National Political Reporter at Axios. He covers the White House and Republican Leaders on Capitol Hill. For the 2016 campaign, he followed Republican candidates and donors and had an insider’s view of the Trump campaign. He was first to break several major news stories including that the United States would pull out from the Paris Climate Treaty, that Jerusalem would be recognised as Israel’s capital and that Steve Bannon was being fired. Previously, Swan was a political reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald. He received the Wallace Brown Award in 2014 for most outstanding young journalist.

William Greenwalt is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council within the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security where he focuses on barriers to international industrial cooperation. Bill served in senior positions at the Pentagon, in Congress, and in the defence industry. As Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, he advised senior Pentagon officials on matters relating to the defence industrial base to include mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment, technology transfer, manufacturing, and competition policy. His most recent report, Leveraging the National Technology Industrial Base to Address Great Power Competition, identifies needed changes to the US export control system to better encourage industrial partnerships between the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.Lesley Seebeck is a Professor of Practice in Cyber Security and CEO of the Cyber Institute, Australian National University. She started as the CEO of the Institute in July 2018. Most recently, she was Chief Investment and Advisory Officer at the Digital Transformation Agency, arriving there from the Bureau of Meteorology where she served as Chief Information Officer from mid 2014 to late 2017. She was recognised as Federal Government CIO of the Year in 2017 and in February 2019 she was appointed to the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board.Brendan Thomas-Noone is a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre where he works on national security and technology issues, US defence and foreign policy and Indo-Pacific security. A frequent media contributor, Brendan’s research has appeared in national and international newspapers including The Economist, the Australian Financial Review and The Washington Post.

Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, U.S. Army (Ret.) is the inaugural holder of the Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute, Washington DC. He is also the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Lt. Gen. McMaster was the 26th assistant to the president for national security affairs. He served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a lieutenant general in June 2018. Lt. Gen. McMaster is author of Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam and the forthcoming Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. He holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Dr John Lee is an adjunct professor and non-resident senior fellow at the US Studies Centre. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to the Australian Foreign Minister, the lead ministerial adviser for the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, and her principal adviser on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs in the lead-up to the reinstitution of the Quad in 2017. Dr Lavina Lee is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is the author of the book US Hegemony and International Legitimacy: Norms Power and Followership in the Wars on Iraq(Routledge, 2010), and has published numerous articles, book chapters and commentary on Indian foreign and security policy, nuclear proliferation, US foreign policy, and security relations in the Indo-Pacific.Dr Charles Edel is Senior Fellow at the US Studies Centre. Previously, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College, and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. In that role, he advised Secretary of State John Kerry on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. He is the co-author of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019) and author of Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (2014).

Jonathan Holloway is President-designate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Most recently, he served as Provost of Northwestern University. Before moving to Northwestern, he was the Dean of Yale College from 2014-2017. He is a professor of History and African American Studies. Holloway’s scholarship focuses on post-emancipation social and cultural American history. He is the author of Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941 and Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940.

The Perth USAsia Centre and United States Studies Centre launched a monthly web series in which our CEOs review the latest in US politics with a focus on the upcoming US election and US-Indo-Pacific relations. USSC CEO Simon Jackman and Perth USAC CEO Gordon Flake discussed the top stories in US politics from an Australian perspective.

Vikram Sharma is Founder and CEO of QuintessenceLabs, a quantum-enhanced cybersecurity firm. He has 20 years of experience in building and managing technology companies. He is a Sloan Fellow from Stanford University and also holds an MSc in computer science and a PhD in quantum physics from the Australian National University.Philip Campbell is a Cognitive Scientist and CEO of enigmaFIT as well as an AmCham Governor. Phillip has 25 years of corporate experience in developing and optimising executives’ Brain Efficiency using the brain’s inherent neuroplasticity. This significantly enhances their Adaptability, Leadership Agility, Strategic Thinking, Innovative Thinking and more - crucial attributes for leading in the COVID-19 era.Alex Young is the co-founder and CEO of “awe”, a self-service platform that creates augmented and virtual reality with no app downloads. She has over 12 years of augmented reality research and development experience and speaks regularly on AR, VR and crafting compelling user experiences in these mediums and both the challenges & opportunities these and other emerging technologies present. She is a passionate advocate of using technology for good in education and training and exploring new ways of engaging learners in these mediums.

Douglas Irwin is John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. He is the author of numerous books, including Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy, which The Economist and Foreign Affairs selected as one of their Best Books of the Year. He is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He worked on trade policy issues while on the staff of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers and was in the International Finance Division at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC.Stephen Kirchner is Program Director Trade and Investment, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney. He is also a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute in Canada. Previously, he was an economist with the Australian Financial Markets Association, where he worked on public policy issues relating to the efficient and effective functioning of Australian financial markets and Australia’s position as a regional and international financial centre.

Protesting during a pandemic is a dangerous political act. But in recent weeks, the world has watched as Americans, some armed, have gathered in state capitols to demand the easing of lockdown restrictions. After the death of a black man in Minnesota who was in police custody, the left is now reemerging on the streets. What motivated these protests? Were they grassroots movements or pushed from the top down? And what does this all tell us about the state of the American union beset by a virus and hurtling towards a Presidential election in November? To discuss these issues, USSC hosted a webinar event featuring Senior Lecturer in American Politics and Foreign Policy Dr David Smith in conversation with Elliott Brennan, author of the recently released USSC report "Coronavirus and protest: How COVID-19 has changed the face of American activism".

Elizabeth Rosenberg is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. In this capacity, she publishes and speaks on the national security and foreign policy implications of the use of sanctions and economic statecraft as well as energy market shifts. From May 2009 through September 2013, Ms Rosenberg served as senior advisor at the US Department of Treasury, to the Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, and then to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.Peter Harrell is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, where he focuses on the intersection of economics and national security. From 2012-2014, Mr Harrell served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. In that role, Harrell was instrumental in developing the international sanctions against Iran, Russia and Syria and in the easing of sanctions against Myanmar.Ashley Feng is a Research Associate for the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focus includes US-China trade relations, China’s economic policies and China’s global economic footprint. Her work and commentary have appeared in NPR, CNBC, Foreign Policy, Fortune, Scientific American and The National Interest.Dr John Lee is a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.Dr Charles Edel is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Prior to this appointment, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College, and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. He is the co-author of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019).

Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, leading its coverage of President Trump and his administration. He and a team of Post reporters won the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for their reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Rucker is co-author with Carol Leonnig of A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Rucker joined the Post in 2005 and previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in history.

Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman is a professor of the practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, she is a senior fellow at the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Ambassador Sherman is senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group and former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. She is currently an MSNBC global affairs contributor and on the USA TODAY Board of Contributors. Ambassador Sherman is the author of Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power and Persistence published by PublicAffairs, September 2018. Ambassador Sherman led the US negotiating team that reached agreement on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the P5+1, the European Union, and Iran for which, among other diplomatic accomplishments, she was awarded the National Security Medal by President Barack Obama. Prior to her service at the Department of State, she was vice chair and founding partner of the Albright Stonebridge Group, counselor of the Department of State under Secretary Madeleine Albright and special advisor to president Clinton and policy coordinator on North Korea, and assistant secretary for legislative affairs under Secretary Warren Christopher.