It’s Remembrance Day today, when, at 11am, Australians took a moment to remember those who died or suffered for their country in conflict and war. Today we commemorated 11am on 11 November 1918, when ‘the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare,’ the moment the armistice came into effect and WWI came to a close. This piece from The Conversation looks at hyperconnected remembrance in our digital age; which the Australian War Memorial has picked up with their own twitter remembrance on Twitter: #TodayIRemember. Lest we forget.
With everyone catching their breath after events stateside this week, minds are now turning to the key appointments America’s 45th President will make and how he will translate his campaign platform into administration policy. A lot has been written in the aftermath of this week’s electoral bout, so here’s just a few picks: get that kicked-in-the-guts feeling courtesy of Messrs David Remnick and Andrew Sullivan, and that heartbreak feeling from Lindy West’s outstanding column for The New York Times. Two thoughtful contributions from Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, one on getting the election wrong, the other on turning it all off. The Economist, along with everyone else, wonders why the polls didn’t pan out. Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight knew what was up, however, and placed a bet each way a while back… Here’s a searing piece on the pollster’s data-driven journalism. And a final few: on the media’s failing, on social media’s dark powers, and on tech after the election.
While the biggest glass ceiling of all is set to remain intact for a while yet, this election cycle has brought a couple of historical firsts for a handful of female superstars. For the first time ever, a US state has elected an openly LGBT governor—Governor Kate Brown from Oregon. Kamala Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, became the first biracial woman to serve in the Senate. In Minnesota, Ilhan Omar won the race to become the first Somali-American legislator in the US, representing a district encompassing a majority of Minneapolis. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada became America’s first Latina senator. And Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran from Illinois, became both the first Thai-born senator AND the first female senator to have seen combat. Can we get a round of applause, please?
Our friends over at The Lowy Institute need your survey responses for an ambitious project on ‘the nature of the gender balance in Australia’s international relations architecture.’ More information is available here. Start your engines.
Kicking off this week’s top research suggestions, a shorter read from Chatham House’s Marianna Schneider-Petsinger unpacks the consequences of the US election on Europe’s economy. Over at the Jamestown Foundation, Lauren Dickey discusses the increasingly positive state of the Japan–Taiwan relationship in the face of rising Chinese aggression in both countries’ near region. Adele Morris of Brookings recently gave a stellar presentation on climate risk and its implications for global financial stability. Her presentation was delivered in a webinar format, which is available here. ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre has made available all of its Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence by way of this fantastic National Library of Australia resource. And finally, it’s from a few weeks ago but definitely worth a peek: this USSC report (PDF) by Rae Cooper, Meraiah Foley and Marian Baird look at stats around female participation in both the US and Australia’s labour forces, and offer some thoughts on how to improve working conditions for women on both sides of the Pacific.
Podcast
In this week’s episode (33 mins) of the fabulous Smart Women, Smart Power Podcast series, Heather Conley, the director of CSIS’ Europe Program, sat down with Nina Easton to discuss her wildly successful publication, The Kremlin Playbook, which unpacks Russia’s ever-growing circle of influence in the EU. Brexit and the role of populism in Europe also get a mention.
Videos
The Atlantic has continued its ‘Women and Leadership’ series with a short feature on Samantha Power, America’s Ambassador to Turtle Bay, who talks family, work, and the sexism that she still faces in her role (6 mins).
US Secretary of State John Kerry recently received this year’s Chatham House Prize (alongside Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Mohammad Javad Zarif) in recognition of his work in securing the momentous nuclear deal between Iran and the P5. He stopped in to Chatham House HQ for a chat with director Robin Niblett (1 hr 4 mins) about the state of diplomacy today.
Events
Canberra: The ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre will next week host ASPI’s journalist fellow Graeme Dobell for a speech at the launch of the new edition of the Security Challenges journal, which commemorates the Pivot five years on.
Sydney: On 22 November, ASPI will be in the Harbour City for an event on the US election and its implications for the alliance. Register here.
The Lowy Institute will host Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls, Natasha Stott Despoja, for a discussion on Australia’s current standing in the global quest for gender equality based on her three years in office. It’s a couple of weeks in advance, but be sure to mark your calendars for 6 December.