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: Jason Edwards-Pool/Getty Images

Photo: Jason Edwards-Pool/Getty Images

What’s at Stake in this Year’s Australian Election?

Australia’s upcoming election will determine Canberra’s capacity for decisive foreign policy action amidst growing regional and global uncertainty.

Critical Questions by Charles Edel — April 25, 2025

Recent Analysis

Photo: STR/XINHUA/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: STR/XINHUA/AFP/Getty Images

China’s Power Play Across the Pacific

China's recent actions in the Pacific present an unmistakable message to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

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Commentary by Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik — April 8, 2025

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Featured Video

Photo: CSIS

Pacific Policy Pulse with Secretary Greg Moriarty

In the first Pacific Policy Pulse episode, Greg Moriarty, Secretary of the Australian Department of Defence, joins Dr. Charles Edel to discuss his top priorities for Australia's defence policy. 

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China’s Power Play Across the Pacific

China's recent actions in the Pacific present an unmistakable message to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

Commentary by Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik — April 8, 2025

Audio Briefs

China’s Power Play Across the Pacific

An audio version of “China’s Power Play Across the Pacific,” a new commentary by CSIS's Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik — April 8, 2025

Audio Briefs

Sealing the Interagency Cracks: The United States in Oceania

The United States has a major vulnerability it needs to address: China is exploiting an immigration loophole in the U.S. territory of Saipan, posing a security and counterintelligence threat to U.S. bases and installations in the region.

Commentary by Kathleen McInnis and Benjamin Jensen — March 13, 2025

Enhancing Defense Industrial Cooperation Between Australia and the United States

In a time of deepening geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific, the United States and Australia should strengthen their defense industrial cooperation to deter potential adversaries while integrating and expanding both nations’ defense industrial bases.

Report by Cynthia Cook, Charles Edel, Kathryn Paik, Gregory Sanders, Henry H. Carroll, Katy Buda, and John Augé — March 3, 2025