US Presidential Election 2020

Wow! While COVID-19 is surging in many American states, President Trump's senior campaign strategist announces “two to three events [rallies] a day, and that will grow as we get closer to Election Day".  But COVID-19 is not the only thing that makes this election unique. While "markets" are predicting a Biden win, voters in Georgia have turned out in record numbers in on the first day of early voting. 

At our October event, two prominent Americans living in Perth with an intimate knowledge of the US political system, Professor Gordon Flake and Robin McClellan, will share insights into the coming election and what either outcome may mean for the US, Australia, and the rest of the world.

About the Speakers

Robin McLellan is a company director and corporate advisor whose first extended stay in Perth was as US Consul General from 2004 – 2007. Robin retired from the U.S. diplomatic service in December 2010, after a 24-year career focused on Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Australia.

She has  worked on regional integration issues involving China, Taiwan, and Japan. Robin delved into the politics, cultures, and histories of her host countries during diplomatic postings in India (covering all of South Asia), Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, and Washington, DC. With a background in economics and trade, Robin worked on issues such as regulatory frameworks, market access, and intellectual property protection. She also coordinated U.S. counterterrorism efforts in South Asia with a focus on measures aimed at stopping the flow of funds to terrorist groups.

Robin is currently a non-executive director of the Indonesian firm Star Energy Oil and Gas.  She is also a member of the state advisory board of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, an advisory board member for Perth start up Close Comfort and a lay canon of the Anglican Cathedral.  Other recent roles include CEO of Leadership Western Australia: a not-for-profit dedicated to enhancing the leadership capability of Australia’s corporate, government and civil society leaders, and director of Minerals Research Initiatives at Curtin University. 

Professor Gordon Flake is the founding CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia.
 
Having built an internationally recognised profile over 25 years of think-tank expertise and leadership in Washington DC, Professor Flake relocated to Perth in 2014 to establish the Centre, and to build a broader world-class Indo-Pacific strategic community.
 
Prior to joining the Centre, he was the Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States and prior to that Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America. 
 
Professor Flake is one of Australia’s leading authorities on the Indo-Pacific, with a particular specialisation on Korea having spent nearly three decades focused on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia Prof Flake has edited several volumes and authored numerous chapters on developments in the region.
 
Gordon holds a number of strategic leadership roles including currently serving on the United States Studies Centre Board and as Fellow of the College at St Catherine’s College at The University of Western Australia. He has previously served on the Board of the United States Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (USCSCAP) as co-Vice Chair of the Board of the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, on the Advisory Council on the Korea Economic Institute of America, and on the International Advisory Board of the David M. Kennedy Centre at Brigham Young University.

He received his BA degree in Korean with a minor in international relations from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He completed his MA at the David M. Kennedy Centre for International and Area Studies, also at BYU. He speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian.