Asia Society Policy Institute Brings on Senior Fellows, Announces Australia Presence
NEW YORK, January 30 2020 — The Asia Society Policy Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of three Senior Fellows in its offices in the United States and Australia, with Richard Maude, Puneet Talwar, and Patrick Suckling—each bringing extensive policy experience and expertise to their new posts.
Headquartered in New York and led by former Australian Prime Minister the Hon. Kevin Rudd AC, the Asia Society Policy Institute is a think- and do-tank designed to bring forth policy ideas that incorporate the best thinking from leading analysts across the United States and Asia, and to work with policymakers to integrate these ideas and, where possible, give them effect.
The Policy Institute has just established a new presence in Melbourne, Australia where it will continue to contribute to an informed public discussion on Australia’s place in Asia and illuminate policy options for decision-makers through policy dialogue, engagement with Australian federal and state governments, published analysis, media, and events. The Policy Institute’s Australian presence will also serve to bring Australian perspectives on Asia to the United States and the wider region, as well as bring American and Asian policy thinking to Australia.
Examples of the Asia Society Policy Institute’s recent policy projects and roadmaps include a study of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the publication of inclusive and expert recommendations to influence BRI project standards toward international best practices, led by the Institute’s Vice President for International Security and Diplomacy Daniel Russel (a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific); a series of roadmaps toward the creation of a high standard and inclusive Asian trade architecture, led by the Institute’s Vice President and Managing Director of the Washington, D.C. Office, Wendy Cutler (a former acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative); analyses and recommendations toward managing strategic competition in the U.S.-China relationship, led by Kevin Rudd; and much more.
Richard Maude, one of Australia’s most respected foreign policy leaders, will join the Policy Institute as a resident Senior Fellow, as well as Executive Director, Policy, for Asia Society Australia. From 2018 until late 2019, he held the role of Deputy Secretary (Indo-Pacific) of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, supporting the government’s engagement with Asia. He has held many other leading roles in government, including Director-General of the Office of National Assessments (a body charged with providing intelligence analysis to Australian Prime Ministers), and has been a senior foreign policy and national security advisor to the Prime Minister. He led the taskforce which supported the preparation of the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.
The Policy Institute is also bringing on additional policy heft in Australia with the appointment of Patrick Suckling as a non-resident Senior Fellow. Mr. Suckling has over 25 years of experience in foreign policy, trade and investment, development, and climate policy. He most recently served as Australia’s Ambassador for the Environment (2016 to 2019), and was responsible for promoting and protecting Australia’s national interests on global environmental issues, including through leading Australia’s negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Prior to this, he served as Australia’s High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to Bhutan. Between 2009 and 2011, he headed the international area of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. He has also served at the Australian Embassy in Washington working on the Australia-U.S. Alliance and has been Australia’s Senior Official for APEC.
Additionally, Asia Society Policy Institute’s Washington, D.C. office has brought on Puneet Talwar as a resident Senior Fellow. Mr. Talwar is a former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs (2014 to 2015), and a former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the National Security Council for the Gulf States, Iran, and Iraq (2009 to 2014). He played a central role in the backchannel diplomacy that produced the Iran nuclear deal. Prior to working in the White House, he was a top advisor to then-Senator Joe Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for twelve years. Talwar also served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff from 1999 to 2001 and was a foreign policy advisor in the House of Representatives in the early 1990s.
Kevin Rudd, President of Asia Society Policy Institute, said: “The Asia Society Policy Institute has long sought to integrate all corners of the Asia-Pacific into its work building inclusive solutions to intractable challenges. We are delighted to bring on Puneet Talwar, who will provide great depth on South and West Asia. We are also pleased to have a presence in Australia—and focus on challenges where Australia can play a key problem-solving role. With both Richard Maude leading on policy work generated in Australia, and Patrick Suckling joining the Institute in a non-resident capacity, the Institute gains significant apolitical experience and insight on Australia and Asia-centric challenges and opportunities from climate change, to regional relationships, including with China, India, ASEAN, and beyond."
Links Asia Society Policy Institute: https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute.
For more information, contact:
Tony Bricktua, +1-212-327-9295 or tbricktua@asiasociety.org