Transatlantic issues like NATO were the focus of national security in the latter part of the 20th century. With the emergence of China as a superpower, however, the focus of security issues has begun shifting to the Pacific region. That is why the Rhodes Trust, the Association of American Rhodes Scholars (AARS), and the Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia (ARSA) co-convened a webinar on transpacific security: “The Rise of China: Implications for Global Security.”
That global security issues are complex is a commonplace. What is not commonplace is addressing those issues simultaneously across numerous time zones for the Rhodes Scholar community. As detailed below, that was done by virtue of seamless cooperation between the Rhodes Trust, AARS, and ARSA.
Involving associations from more than one country was crucial, because Rhodes Scholars from only one country could not cover all the material adequately. Involving Rhodes Scholars from the US,the largest competitor to China, and from Australia, a neighbor of China, made good sense: it insured multiple viewpoints, but not so many that focus was lost.
The first step for the co-convenors was networking in order to recruit a webinar panel that could authoritatively address the following transpacific issues: military, political, economic, and cybersecurity. Given the depth and breadth of the Rhodes Alumni community, that seemingly difficult task was relatively easy.
On the military issue, the panel included retired Admiral Dennis Blair (Virginia & Worcester 1968), formerly Commander in Chief, US Pacific Command. The moderator of the panel was retired US Air Force Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson (Iowa and Brasenose 1981). Because the webinar is educational in nature, it was helpful that General Johnson was formerly Superintendent of the US Air Force Academy.
On political and economic issues, Dr. Michael Fullilove (New South Wales and Balliol 1997), Professor Amy King (Australia-at-Large & Trinity 2007), and Professor Taylor Fravel (Vermont & New College 1993) provided expertise.
Dr. Fullilove is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. He co-edited Reports from a Turbulent Decade (Penguin, 2013).
Professor King is Associate Professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. She is the author of China-Japan Relations After World War II: Empire, Industry and War, 1949-1971 (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Professor Fravel is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program at MIT. He authored Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China’s Territorial Disputes (Princeton University Press, 2008).
Cybersecurity issues were covered by Dr. Mark Hagerott (Washington and Hertford 1997), the Chancellor of the North Dakota University System. Prior to that, he was a deputy director and distinguished professor at the Naval Academy Center for Cyber Security Studies.
The relevance of the webinar, which was governed by the Chatham House Rule of non-attribution, was magnified by two contemporaneous events. The first was that, at the time of the webinar, three Chinese naval vessels were sailing around Australia, engaging in live fire exercises. That led to discussion about AUKUS, the agreement between Australia, the US and the UK regarding the extremely costly development of state-of-the-art nuclear attack submarines.
The second contemporaneous event was the well-publicized meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office. That led to many questions and comments about the nature of the U.S. commitment to its traditional allies in both Asia and Europe, with a focus on Taiwan.
In short, this webinar provided an excellent example of cooperation among and between national Rhodes Scholars associations and the Rhodes Trust. It widened and strengthened the ties among Rhodes Scholars worldwide.