Australia Chair

The Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies is dedicated to increasing understanding between the United States and Australia

The Australia Chair, endowed through the generosity of Pratt Industries, sharpens the focus on U.S.-Australia alliance relations and contributes innovative policy ideas to the rapidly expanding regional and global challenges that call for greater coordination and action by Canberra and Washington. The Chair works to broaden the reach and impact of the U.S.-Australia alliance and Australian ideas, influence, and capacity.

Dr. Charles Edel, a thought leader on U.S. national security and U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific and a well-recognized public policy voice in U.S.-Australia relations, serves as the inaugural Australia Chair. The Australia Chair is supported by an advisory council of former senior officials and business leaders led by James Carouso, former chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Canberra with senior diplomatic experience across the region.

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Featured Analysis

Photo: COLIN MURTY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: COLIN MURTY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

AUKUS Turns Five: Real Progress, Hard Challenges Ahead

Five years on, the AUKUS partnership has built the scaffolding for deterrence. Now it has to prove the scaffolding can bear weight.

Commentary by Jonathan Ahlstrom and Charles Edel — September 14, 2026

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Photo: CSIS

Unpacking China’s Recent SLBM Test into the Pacific

On July 6th, China tested a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile from the South China Sea into the Pacific, marking the first time China has ever launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile into international open waters. Mr. Joseph Rodgers, Dr. Bonny Lin, and Dr. Charles Edel discuss the details of the launch, including how China broke with established international code of conduct, what drove China to conduct the missile test, and how regional countries have responded to China’s provocative and destabilizing action.

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Featured Event

AUKUS at Five: Progress, Challenges, and the Way Forward

Presented by Australia Chair
September 17, 2026 • 8:00 – 9:00 am EDT

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A Pacific Leaders Meeting with Too Few Leaders

As Pacific leaders gathered to strengthen regional unity, intensifying geopolitical competition put the region’s growing strategic importance—and its autonomy—squarely in the spotlight.

Critical Questions by John Augé and Kathryn Paik — September 11, 2026

Taiwan and the Pacific

Leading scholars and practitioners from the United States, Taiwan, and Australia offer analysis and recommendations regarding cross-strait challenges, as well as opportunities for the three partners to enhance Taiwan’s regional standing.

Report by Henrietta Levin, Charles Edel, Kathryn Paik, and Emma Y. Liu — August 27, 2026