Policy issues at the intersection of international security and international economics loom increasingly large for Australian and US policymakers. The alliance’s shift from economic engagement to rivalry towards China has reframed international and domestic economic policy settings in light of the security concerns presented by China’s growing power and influence. Unprecedented attention now turns toward geoeconomic statecraft, the use of economic policy instruments to further geopolitical, foreign policy and security objectives.

How concerned are Australian policymakers and how concerned should they be? What are the limits of China’s economic statecraft and could it backfire? How should the United States and Australia respond?

To discuss these issues, the United States Studies Centre hosted a webinar to launch a report from the Centre's International Economy Program: A geoeconomic alliance: The potential and limits of economic statecraft featuring report author Dr Stephen Kirchner, USSC Director of International Economy; Christine McDaniel, Senior Research Fellow at Mercatus Center and Dr Ben Herscovitch, Research Fellow at Australian National University in conversation with USSC Research Fellow of Foreign Policy and Defence Susannah Patton.