It’s not often that an Australian think tank gets to host the world’s leading diplomat, but CIS enjoyed that experience on Sunday, August 4. In conjunction with the Embassy of the United States in Canberra, the Centre for Independent Studies hosted U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.
The event featured an introduction by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Marise Payne, a speech by the Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on the US-Australia relationship and a conversation led by CIS Executive Director Tom Switzer with Secretary Pompeo and Minister Payne.
In that conversation, the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has declared “you can sell your soul for a pile of soybeans, or you can protect your people”, dismissing a warning from prominent Australian security analyst Hugh White that Australia should avoid following Donald Trump into a confrontation with Beijing that America probably can’t win.