The relationship between the United States and Australia plays a critical role in the geo-strategy of both countries.  Australia and the United States share their most sensitive intelligence with each other, partner on regional and global challenges, and are committed to jointly producing submarines in a joint endeavor with the United Kingdom known as AUKUS.  Join His Excellency the Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States and Rhode Island’s senior Senator Jack Reed for a conversation about the strategic challenges these two democracies face together, the status of the AUKUS partnership, and their joint response to China’s growing power.

HE the Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC, Australia's Ambassador to the United States
His Excellency, the Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC is Australia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, taking up his posting in Washington in March 2023.
 
Ambassador Rudd served as Australia’s twenty-sixth Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010, then as Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a second term as Prime Minister in 2013. He was Member for Griffith in the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2013.
 
Since leaving government, Ambassador Rudd has resided in the United States where he is recognized as a leading analyst of China. In 2015, he became inaugural President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. In 2020, he was appointed President and CEO of the Asia Society globally and, in 2022, he founded the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.In 2019, Ambassador Rudd was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to Indigenous reconciliation, innovative economic initiatives, and major policy reform, and through senior advisory roles with international organizations. Ambassador Rudd holds honorary positions at the Atlantic Council and Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC; the Asia Society, Schwartzman Scholars and Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New York; the Paulson Institute in Chicago; the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris, France; the Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation in Hamburg, Germany; and Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra. He is founder and co-chair of an Australian charity, the National Apology Foundation, and a trustee of the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City.
 
Ambassador Rudd started his diplomatic career in 1981 with postings to Beijing and Stockholm. In 1988, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Hon Wayne Goss and served him as Premier of Queensland. He was Director-General of the Cabinet Office in Queensland from 1991 to 1995, and Senior China Consultant for KPMG from 1996 to 1998.
 
Ambassador Rudd graduated with Honors in Asian Studies from the Australian National University and received his PhD from Oxford University in 2022. He also studied at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei.

The Honorable Jack Reed, U.S. Senator
The Honorable Jack Reed serves as the senior United States senator from Rhode Island. A champion for middle-class families and a strong believer that all Americans should have the opportunity to build a better life, Reed was born and raised in Cranston, Rhode Island.

First elected in 1996 to succeed Claiborne Pell as Rhode Island’s 46th United States senator, Reed has established himself as a leader in the Senate whose counsel is sought and whose voice is heard on both sides of the aisle. Reed is a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and a member (ex officio) of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Reed served in the 82^nd Airborne Division as an Infantry Platoon Leader, a company commander and battalion officer. He returned to West Point as a faculty member. Reed resigned from active duty in 1979 and continued serving in the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of Major.

He earned a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and his law degree from Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, Reed became an attorney in private practice with the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan before moving back to Providence and working for Edwards & Angell, specializing in banking and securities law.