Understanding AUKUS – What’s at stake for the United States?

This is a virtual program, instructions to join this webinar will be sent to all registrants prior to the event. 

The new U.S.-UK-Australian strategic partnership (AUKUS) has angered both China and France. The Chinese reaction is not surprising. The French reaction caught the Biden administration off guard as French president Macron recalled France’s ambassadors from Washington, DC and Canberra. Is Macron furious about a multi-billion dollars arms deal with Australia being cancelled or is something deeper at issue in the transatlantic alliance? Can the United States bring the EU along to create a more robust presence in the Indo-Pacific to balance against China’s growing power and ambition? Join the World Affairs Council on October 20 from 12:00-1:00pm for a conversation with Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Obama administration, and Evan S. Medeiros, the Cling Family Senior Fellow in US-China Relations  and former special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia on the staff of the NSC in the Obama administration, on what AUKUS means for the transatlantic relationship and Biden’s goals in the Indo-Pacific.

About the Speakers

Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government.

From 2014 to 2017, Kupchan served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) in the Barack Obama administration. He was also director for European affairs on the NSC during the first Bill Clinton administration.  Before joining the Clinton NSC, he worked in the U.S. Department of State on the policy planning staff.  Previously, he was an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University.

Kupchan is the author of Isolationism: A History of America's Efforts to Shield Itself From the World (2020), No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn (2012), How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace (2010), The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (2002), Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (2001), Civic Engagement in the Atlantic Community (1999), Atlantic Security: Contending Visions (1998), Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe (1995), The Vulnerability of Empire (1994), The Persian Gulf and the West (1987), and numerous articles on international and strategic affairs.

Kupchan has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs, Columbia University's Institute for War and Peace Studies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Centre d'Étude et de Recherches Internationales in Paris, and the Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo. From 2006 to 2007, he was the Henry A. Kissinger scholar at the Library of Congress and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2013 to 2014, he was a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy.

Kupchan received his BA from Harvard University and MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University.

Dr. Evan S. Medeiros is the Penner Family Chair in Asia Studies in the School of Foreign Service and the Cling Family Distinguished Fellow in U.S.-China Studies. His research and teaching focuses on the international politics of East Asia, U.S.-China relations and China’s foreign and national security policies. He has published several books and articles and regularly provides advice to global corporations and commentary to the international media.

Dr. Medeiros’ background is a unique blend of research expertise and practical experience. He previously served for six years on the staff of the National Security Council as Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia - and then as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia. In the latter role, Dr. Medeiros served as President Obama's top advisor on the Asia-Pacific and was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific across the areas of diplomacy, defense policy, economic policy, and intelligence. He was actively involved in all aspects U.S.-China relations for six years, including several U.S.-China summits.

Dr. Medeiros advises multinational companies in his role as a Senior Advisor with The Asia Group. Prior to joining the White House, Dr. Medeiros also worked for seven years as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. From 2007-2008, he also served as policy advisor to Secretary Hank Paulson working on the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue at the Treasury Department.

Expertise: Chinese, East and Pacific Asia

Language: Mandarin

Academic Appointment: Professor of the Practice, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Education:
University of Cambridge - M.Phil
School of Oriental and African Studies University of London - M.A.
Bates College - B.A.
London School of Economics and Political Science - Ph.D., International Relations