Join AIIA WA for drinks and festive food as we celebrate the end of a very unusual year with Stephen Smith to talk about:

The US Election outcome, implications for the Australia-US Alliance and the Indo Pacific

Australia's security since the end of WW2 has been underpinned by the alliance with the US.  By the end of the Cold War the US was a hyperpower, presiding over a world where rules based order, economic globalisation, and democracy were widely held norms.  "That America and that world", writes Hugh White, "is gone forever".

Even if Joe Biden is fully committed to restoring US hegemony in the Indo-Pacific, his immediate attention will likely be focussed on healing a divided country and containing Covid-19.  He may also face an uncooperative and activist Senate bent on following the isolationist tendencies of President Trump.

As a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a former Minister of Defence, Professor Stephen Smith is uniquely placed to understand what a Biden administration may mean for the Australia-US Alliance and the Indo Pacific.

Join us after Stephen's presentation on the Lower Colanade for drinks and canapes prepared by the UWA Club's Executive Chef Costa Simatos and his team. Food and drinks are included in the ticket price.

 We will also have our traditional Christmas book swap. If you like, bring along a wrapped book to receive one in return. Sue Boyd's book Not Always Diplomatic: An Australian Woman's Journey through international affairs will be on sale.

About the Speaker

Professor Stephen Smith has been a Professor of Public International Law at the University of Western Australia since 2014. He is currently the Chairman of archTIS, Chairman of Sapien Cyber, Chair of the Advisory Board of the UWA Public Policy Institute, a member of the Board of the Perth USAsia Centre and a Member of the Board of the LNG Marine Fuel Institute. 
 
Professor Smith was Federal Member for Perth for the Australian Labor Party from March 1993 until September 2013. In a distinguished career spanning 20 years in the Australian Federal Parliament, Professor Smith served as the Minister for Defence, and prior to that, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Trade.
 
Following his retirement from the Australian Parliament in 2013, Professor Smith was a member of the EY (Ernst and Young) Oceania Government and Public Sector Advisory Board (2014 - 2017), Chair of the Asia Desk and a member of the Advisory Board of Perth Law firm Lavan (2014 – 2017), and a member of the Board of Hockey Australia (2013 - 2016).
 
Professor Smith completed his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Western Australia, and has practised as a Barrister and Solicitor in Perth. He completed a Master of Laws in Public International Law at London University, and subsequently lectured and tutored in Law in London.