United States Studies Centre 2015 Annual Review APPOINTMENTS Mark Baillie Chairman Mark Baillie was appointed as Chairman of the Centre’s Board of Directors. Baillie has been a member of the USSC board since April 2014 and a director of the American Australian Association since 2012. He is non-executive deputy chairman of Folkestone Limited, an ASX-listed real estate funds management, investment, and development company. Formerly he was the head of European and North American real estate for Macquarie Group Limited, which included five years based in Chicago. Baillie acted as Executive Chairman of the USSC from November 2015 whilst the search for a successor for CEO Bates Gill was conducted. Dr Aaron Nyerges Lecturer in American Studies Aaron Nyerges is a Lecturer in American Studies at the US Studies Centre. He has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sydney and a BA from the State University of New York. His articles have been accepted and published in Textual Practice, Sydney Studies in English, and Sound Studies. He is writing a book on American modernism and spatial modernity. Adjunct Associate ProFessor Elsina WainwrigHt Non-Resident Fellow, Alliance 21 Program Dr Elsina Wainwright is an adjunct associate professor at the USSC and a non-resident fellow in its Alliance 21 Program. Based in New York, she is also a visiting senior fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation. Previous roles include director of the strategy and international program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an associate with McKinsey & Company, a consultant political analyst for the International Crisis Group, and a stipendiary lecturer in politics at Oriel College, Oxford University. She has arts and law degrees from the University of Queensland, and a master’s degree and doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. AsHley TownsHend Research Fellow, Alliance 21 Program Ashley Townshend is a Research Fellow in the Alliance 21 Program and is currently a Visiting Fellow in the Center for Asia-Pacific Cooperation and Governance at Fudan University, Shanghai. He specialises in international security and strategic affairs with a regional focus on China, Northeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific region, including maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas. RESEARCH Alliance 21 Program James Brown, Director and Robert Hill, Senior Advisor 2015 ConFerence: Looking Ahead: Next Steps for the Deepening Australia-U.S. Alliance in the Asia-Pacific At the Brookings institution in Washington DC in late January. The conference featured keynote speeches by: • Foreign Minister Julie Bishop • Christine Wormuth Undersecretary of the US Department of Defense • Wes Bush, CEO of Northrop Grumman CEO Other highlights: Detailed discussion between national security advisers to the US President and Australian Prime Minister, Evan Medeiros and Andrew Shearer Panel discussion on Asian economic issues and infrastructure James Brown: He is crafting a new strategy for Phase 2 of Alliance 21 in consultation with corporate partners, government stakeholders, and USSC staff. He has also lectured on the alliance at the National Security College in Canberra, participated in a roundtable with the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted a roundtable on US energy efficiency, and written several op-eds on security and alliance issues. A new Alliance 21 Internship commenced in March, involving two undergraduates and one postgraduate working within the program as part of their degree. Alternative Transport Fuels Initiative Susan M Pond AM, MD DSc, FTSE, Adjunct Professor in Sustainability, Director Dr Pond led a project in partnership with the NSW Government that addressed the complex challenge of delivering secure, safe and affordable transport energy sources with low emissions and environmental impact that are compatible with future energy grids. She engaged with Ministers and senior Departmental officials across a number of portfolios in both the NSW and Australian governments, California and the US more broadly lead in many of these fields. In February Dr Pond gave a presentation on the global development of the alternative aviation fuel industry at the AirServices International Sustainable Aviation Conference at AIRSHOW2015. In March, Dr Pond joined international and Australian speakers at the British Council Global Education Dialogues: East Asia Series. Together with Dame Julia Goodfellow (UK) and Dr Lily Chan (Singapore), Susan debated the topic of the role of the market place in demand for innovation from public and private sectors. In May 2015, the USSC hosted experts from the USA for a number of roundtables and at a conference in Sydney on Low Carbon Transport Fuels. Emerging US Security PartnersHips in SoutHeast Asia Dr Bates Gill, Director The USSC project “Emerging security partnerships in South-east Asia” supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, began its work in September 2014 and will end in August 2016. The early months were spent assembling the multinational research team of experts (from the UK, New Zealand, and Australia) and opening working ties with counterpart institutions in Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. In May there was a Major Event including a roundtable meetings in Yangon, Hanoi and Jakarta. So far, the USSC has released three in-depth studies by leading academics and professionals to assess the policies of Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia regarding their ongoing relations with both China and the United States. Soil Carbon Initiative Andrea Koch, Director Andrea Koch continued to progress USSC thought leadership around soil security. The focus was on developing new networks in the agriculture sector in preparation for a major conference in June titled: Soil, Big Data and the Future of Agriculture. US-China Relations Linda Jakobson, Visiting Professor, Director This project carried out research for a final report in 2016. In conducting this research in Australia, the United States, and China, Linda also co-taught a USSC co-branded postgraduate course on US-China relations with Professor J. D. Yuan of the Department of Government and International Relations. There was also a lot of organisational work in preparation for the first Australia-China-United States trilateral forum (early September). Linda lined up the key foreign partners (Council on Foreign Relations in the USA and the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies in China), each of which sent a five-person delegation to Sydney for the forum. Jakobson also delivered remarks on the geopolitical challenges the United States faces in Asia at the Alliance 21 conference in DC in late January. This was followed by presentations by Dr Bates Gill and Linda on Australian perceptions of US-China relations at a roundtable event at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York. The event was well-attended and hosted by CFR Asia Director Dr Elizabeth Economy. US-China relations was yet again a focus when the USSC hosted Professor Michael Yahuda of George Washington University at a roundtable in Sydney in Mid-March. Future Cities Collaborative Sandy Burgoyne, Director The Future Cities Collaborative brings together policy, practice and research to inform city leaders to take inspired action to build great cities. It is primarily supported by the New South Wales government. Among the highlights of the year was the visit of special guest Dr David Rosen, a globally- recognised authority in the fields of affordable housing finance, inclusionary housing, redevelopment, real estate economics, and renewable energy. He contributed strongly to the dialogue on Australia's affordable housing crisis including a Sydney Ideas talk entitled “Can you Afford to Live Where You Choose?”, leading several Housing Affordability Roundtables with civic leaders and policy makers from Local Government, NSW Planning and Infrastructure, NSW Trade and Investment, UrbanGrowthNSW and Social Housing providers. He also was supported by several media engagements. In February, there was a Mayoral dinner which joined the Future Cities Program 2013 alumni with five new financial members to the Collaborative including the cities of Gosford, Hornsby, Pittwater, Canada Bay and Wollongong which contributed $110k for the financial year. Another highlight was a week-long study tour of the United States in June organised by the program.Delegates from the City of Newcastle, City of Penrith, City of Canada Bay, Blacktown City Council, City of Liverpool and the Western Sydney Business Chamber met with over 60 civic and industry leaders and examined over nine projects across Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, and Chicago. The goal was to identify and assess the funding and financing tools used to support economic development programs and projects, including infrastructure, transport, and civic facilities. Over this period, the program also opened discussions to establish a strategic partnership with the global architectural and urban design firm, AECOM, which has its headquarters in San Francisco. W21: 21st Century Women in Leadership Initiative Melissa Grah-McIntosh, Director Following the success of the official G20-related International Dialogue on Women in Leadership at which the Centre launched our W21 initiative in November, the Centre has turned its focus to launching a new executive education workshop with visiting professor Iris Bohnet of Harvard. Co-sponsored by the Behavioral Insights Group, Center for Public Leadership,