The South Pacific is becoming a more strategically crowded and contested space. But, despite the strong aid and defence relations Australia maintains with the island states, there’s been little attention given to date to the role of Australia’s private sector in the Pacific islands region.

The US military presence in the Middle East is the culmination of a common bargain with Middle Eastern governments - security cooperation and military assistance in exchange for US access to military bases in the region. Despite significant financial expenditure and thousands of lives lost, a fundamental shift in policy remains unimaginable at present.

Despite the unease many feel about the United States at the moment, the idea of a U.S-led world order is still attractive to most. When asked which would be better for the world, having China or the U.S as the top global power, people in nearly every country tend to select the United States.

As a liberal democracy, Australia needs its own report on US torture in Iraq and has a legal and moral obligation to prevent torture.

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, joined the United States Studies Centre for an address looking at the role of the United States in Asia.