Roundtable with Jon Ahlstrom and Erika Olson

Tuesday 23 July 2024

On Tuesday 23 July 2024, the Perth USAsia Centre held a roundtable discussion with Jon Ahlstrom, Director for AUKUS on the United States National Security Council, and Erika Olson, Chargé d’Affaires to Australia at the United States Embassy.

In recent years, the US-Australia relationship has gone from strength to strength. Partners in both the Quad grouping and the AUKUS defence pact, Australia and the United States share strong mutual commitment to addressing regional security challenges and promoting a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

As the geopolitical landscape of our region continues to evolve, this enduring relationship will remain a cornerstone of Australia’s Indo-Pacific outlook and will be increasingly integral to our security.

Mr Ahlstrom and Ms Olson joined us for a lively discussion on the state of the US-Australian security relationship and its regional outlook; the important role of Western Australia in delivering AUKUS pillars One and Two, labour force challenges and opportunities; disinformation and information resilience; and cyber and critical infrastructure security.

Gallery

Speakers

Erika Olson

DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION FOR THE UNITED STATES IN AUSTRALIA

Erika Olson is the Deputy Chief of Mission for the United States in Australia, where she manages the U.S.-Australia bilateral relationship through the Embassy in Canberra and Consulates in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. From 2021-2023, she held the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State overseeing policy for Southern Europe and the Caucasus. As Director for Regional Political Military Affairs in Europe she guided U.S. participation at NATO and the OSCE. From 2019-2021 she directed the Office of Northern Europe, the Baltics, and Arctic Security.

While serving as Economic Counselor for the United States Mission in Turkey from 2016-2019, she won the Department’s Herbert Salzman Award for Excellence in International Economic Performance. She served as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia; Deputy Political Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia; Political Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Consul and Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. In Washington she was Senior Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom and worked in the Secretary of State’s Operations Center.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ms. Olson worked alongside Ambassador Robert Oakley at the National Defense University on conflict and resilience. She advised the Director General of the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Department of Commerce and worked for Microsoft and the Mitsui Corporation. Erika holds a M.A. in Foreign Affairs with a concentration in international economic policy from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a B.A. with Honors in psychology and Japanese studies from Whitman College. She studied at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. She speaks Turkish and Russian, and has studied Japanese, Georgian, and Slovak.