Pulitzer Prize winning historian David Kennedy says America’s West is destined to dominate politics, culture and economics in the United States, so just what does this mean for Australia and the world?
Gold Coasters have the opportunity to find out at Bond University’s Business Leaders’ Forum this Friday evening, where Professor Kennedy will speak on “The Emerging Dominance of the American West in the Economy, Culture & Politics of the United States”.
The free public forum will be held at Bond University’s Cerum Theatre this Friday November 30, from 5.30pm.
A Stanford University historian, Professor Kennedy is visiting Bond University as part of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, which will see him tour five Australian universities. Bond is the only university in Queensland included in the tour.
Mr Kennedy will discuss how the demographic centre of the United States has moved steadily westward since World War II, as the western states alone will soon contain enough electoral votes to determine who occupies the White House.
“Massive internal migration has combined with unprecedented immigration inflows to make western states, America’s fastest growing region” said Professor Kennedy.
“Silicon Valley in California and the Microsoft – Amazon complex around Seattle are the world’s acknowledged centres of technological and commercial innovation. If California were an independent country, its nearly two trillion dollar economy would easily qualify it for membership of the G-8”
“David Kennedy is the pre-eminent scholar of the American West, a renowned historian and a brilliant speaker” said Mr Phil Scanlan, founder of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
“In addition to the beltway in Washington DC, future Leadership Dialogue engagement with the United States will increasingly focus on the Western coastal states as America’s portal to the Asia Pacific. Australia and the United States are Pacific neighbours with shared challenges and opportunities in this most dynamic of regions” Mr Scanlan said.
Anyone interested in attending Bond University’s Business Leaders’ Forum to hear Professor Kennedy’s address should register at bond.edu.au/events, or phone 1800 074 074.