Tuesday, December 18, 2012 | 12:00 AM EST

With the new make-up of China’s highest political bodies no longer a mystery, the question now turns to how these fifth generation leaders will impact the regional and global world orders over their tenures. Will the Xi-Li government institute the political and financial reforms many call for? Will Sino-U.S. relations enter a new phase of either cooperation or conflict? To address these and many other issues, the National Committee hosted The Honorable Kevin Rudd MP, former Prime Minister of Australia, for a discussion on December 18, 2012 at Covington & Burling in New York.

BIO Kevin Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister between 2007-2010 and subsequently as Australia’s Foreign Minister from 2010 until 2012. Mr. Rudd was elected as Leader of the Labor Party in 2006 and was only the third Labor leader to win government from opposition since World War II. As Prime Minister, Mr. Rudd led Australia’s response during the Global Financial Crisis. Australia was the only major advanced economy not to go into recession, in large part because of the Australian Government’s policy response which the OECD/IMF assessed as one of the most effective in the world. Mr. Rudd is internationally recognized as one of the founders of the G20, the premier global economic decision-making institution. He is recognized as a major driving force behind the 2010 decision to expand the East Asia Summit to include the United States in this important regional institution. This was a major step forward to realizing his longer term vision for an Asia Pacific Community which he first proposed in 2008. As Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr. Rudd also oversaw the doubling of Australian foreign aid over five years, making Australia the seventh largest aid donor in the world.

Mr. Rudd remains engaged in major international challenges including global economic management, the rise of China, and the global challenge of sustainable development. He was a co-author of the 2012 report of the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Global Sustainability – “Resilient People, Resilient Planet”. Nationally, he remains deeply engaged on the questions of Australia’s strategic and economic future in Asia, aboriginal reconciliation, the teaching of Asian languages, homelessness and organ donation.

Politics & Foreign Relations

  • EVENT AUDIO | Kevin Rudd, MP on China’s New Leaders and the Global Order

    • Politics & Foreign Relations

    Recorded 12/17/2012

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