The AUKUS Initiative

AUKUS, the Australia-UK-U.S. security partnership announced in September 2021, represents a massive shift in strategic thinking, multilateral security, and defense integration. President Biden called the agreement a “historic step to deepen and formalize cooperation,” and President Trump declared the agreement “full steam ahead” in October 2026. Additionally, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described AUKUS as a model for strengthening alliances with U.S. partners around the world. AUKUS has the potential to become one of the largest geopolitical moves of the past several decades in the Indo-Pacific—if it is successful. The Australia Chair serves as a leading U.S. platform for advancing the policy conversation around AUKUS. Through analysis, public events, and private roundtables that convene policymakers, experts, industry leaders, and other key stakeholders, the Chair examines the partnership’s strategic implications, identifies emerging challenges, and fosters informed discussion about how AUKUS can be implemented and strengthened.

AUKUS Roundtables
 

The Australia Chair hosts a private, off-the-record, roundtable series, AUKUS and the future of the American-Australian-British defense and industrial partnership that examines various aspects of the U.S.-Australia-U.K. defense industrial relationship including AUKUS. Key issues include the role of Capitol Hill, submarines, as well as technology transfer, among others. The aim of this series is to help move the policy conversation forward by engaging diverse stakeholders, identifying the key questions challenging implementation, and soliciting practical suggestions to move the enterprise forward.

Previous Roundtable Speakers

• Tony Abbott — Former Prime Minister of Australia
• Tarun Chhabra — Senior Director for Technology and National Security on the U.S. National Security Council
• Joe Courtney — U.S. Representative (D-CT)
• Glyn Davis- Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Australia
• Scott Dewar — Australia's Deputy Secretary of Quad, AUKUS, and Naval Shipbuilding
• Abraham Denmark — Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for AUKUS
• Michèle Flournoy — Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors
• Mike Gallagher — U.S. Representative (R-WI)
• Andrew Hastie — Australia’s Shadow Minister of Defence
• Hugh Jeffrey — Australia’s Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Industry
• Tim Kaine — U.S. Senator (D-VA)
• Peter Khalil — Chair of Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security
• Sir Stephen Lovegrove — Defence Industrial Adviser for the U.K. Prime Minister, and former British National Security Advisor
• Peter Malinauskas — Premier of South Australia
• Michael McCaul — U.S. Representative (R-TX)
• Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead — AO RAN, Chief Nuclear Powered Submarine Task Force at the Royal Australian Navy
• Jim Miller — Coordinator for AUKUS on the U.S. National Security Council
• Greg Moriarty — Former Australian Secretary of Defence
• Scott Morrison — Former Prime Minister of Australia
• James Paterson — Australia’s Shadow Minister for Cyber Security and Shadow Minister for Countering Foreign Interference
• Leon Phillips — Australia Chief of Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordinance
• Admiral John Richardson (ret.) — Former Chief of U.S. Navy Operations
• Andrew Shearer — Director General of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence
• Simon Stuart — Australia’s Chief of Army
• Malcolm Turnbull — Former Prime Minister of Australia
• Thomas Wright — Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the U.S. National Security Council
• David Williams — Permanent Secretary of the U.K. Ministry of Defence and Senior Lead for AUKUS