Dr Mike Green is CEO of the United States Studies Centre.

Mike has a long and distinguished career in foreign policy working at a number of think tanks including CSIS and CNAS. An Asia expert, he served on the staff of the National Security Council in the Bush Administration, first as director for Asian affairs with responsibility for Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, and then as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Asia.

He has authored numerous books and articles on East Asian security, including most recently, By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783 (Columbia University Press, 2017) and Line of Advantage: Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzō (Columbia University Press, 2022). 

Misha and Mike caught up for a chinwag about all things AUKUS, including why the US has shared its ‘Crown Jewels’ of nuclear propulsion for the first time in 70 years, the huge national mission Australia must undertake to get subs in the water as quickly as possible, why Xi Jinping is the godfather of AUKUS, how advanced military kit acts as a deterrence to war, the possibilities of new technology transfers under phase two of AUKUS, how having nuclear submarines increases Australia’s national sovereign agency and why flat whites will need to be served by the US Navy.

It’s a huge, huge chat rich in detail answering so many questions about AUKUS. We hope you enjoy it. As ever, please rate and review — thanks to everyone who has been so generous following and supporting the show. We love you. 

Follow Mike and the USSC here: @DrMichaelJGreen and @USSC

Follow Misha and the show here: @mishazelinsky @diplomatesshow