kim beazley

This week on the podcast, we’re bringing you a special series of recordings from the United States Studies Centre’s inaugural Sydney International Strategy Forum. These will each share one of the four panel discussions from the day. This episode is the “How far will US-China confrontation go?” panel featuring:

• Michele Flournoy – Co-Founder of West Exec Advisors and former US Under Secretary of Defence
• Admiral Phil Davidson – Former commander of US Indo-Pacific Command
• Dr Evan Medeiros, Professor and Penner family chair in Asia Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and
• The Honourable Kim Beazley, former Australian Ambassador to the United States.
• Moderated by Dr Michael Green, CEO of the United States Studies Centre

Dr Evan Medeiros’ book mentioned in podcast, Cold Rivals: The New Era of US-China Strategic Competition, is available here.

A video recording of this episode is available on the USSC YouTube channel here. The playlist of all recordings from the Sydney International Strategy Forum is available here.

Subscribe to the USSC Briefing Room on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Produced by: Elliott Brennan

Between 2010 and 2013, Michael Cooney was speechwriter for Australia's 27th Prime Minister, Julia Gillard who was also its first female Prime Minister. Michael has written an excellent book about this experience, called 'The Gillard Project: My Thousand Days of Despair and Hope'. In this episode he talks about what a Prime Ministerial speech writer does, and shares interesting and funny yarns from the coalface of political power, including his trip to Washington for the Prime Minister's meeting with President Obama. 

Episode contains clips from Prime Minister Gillard's address to Congress, her speech at the Gallipoli Dawn Service 2011, The Misogyny Speech, and her remarks on losing the leadership ballot to Kevin Rudd in 2013. 

Michael now works at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers as the General Manager of Public Affairs. 

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Thanks also to those who are donors or Patreons. 

This episode is sponsored by DocPlay. Sign up here for 45 days free on the world's best documentary streaming site, then if you choose to continue, $7.99/m. 

Tony's personal writing blog is Good one, Wilson!

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Bookoccino's Jane Perlez (NYT) interviews Hugh White to discuss the role of a divided America and a rising China in the Asia-Pacific as well as many of the themes contained in his groundbreaking 2019 book "How to Defend Australia."

Can Australia defend itself in the Asian century? How seriously ought we take the risk of war? Do we want to remain a middle power? What kind of strategy, and what Australian Defence Force, do we need? 

Hugh White AO is an Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra.