USSC Briefing Room | How is economic security changing the politics and foreign policy in the UK and Australia?

23 June 2026

This year, the United States Studies Centre has joined forces with the UK High Commission to run two track 1.5 workshops on economic security – one in London and one here in Sydney. Olivia O’Sullivan, Chatham House Director of the UK in the World Programme and Hayley Channer, USSC Director of Economic Security joined the USSC Briefing Room podcast to discuss key findings from these closed-door discussions.

Podcast by

Hayley Channer

Director, Economic SecurityUnited States Studies Centre

Mari Koeck

Director of Engagement and ImpactUnited States Studies Centre

The term “economic security” is having a bit of a moment. While generally unheard of a few years ago, the past three Australian budget speeches have all mentioned economic security and this year, the Australian government announced $38.9 million in funding to increase economic security and resilience and countries around the world are starting to move beyond free trade or investment deals to ink economic security deals.

What is economic security? How does it relate to issues like the Iran war and competition with China? What can allies and partners do to bolster their economic security?

This year, the United States Studies Centre has joined forces with the UK High Commission to run two track 1.5 workshops on economic security – one in London and one here in Sydney. Olivia O’Sullivan, Chatham House Director of the UK in the World Programme and Hayley Channer, USSC Director of Economic Security joined the USSC Briefing Room podcast to discuss key findings from these closed-door discussions. This podcast was recorded in May, before the UK special election.