In March 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced in Washington that the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at Sydney University would be funded to produce an independent assessment of the future of the US-Australia alliance (US-Australia 21st Century Alliance project).

USSC has commissioned six streams, or working groups, to report on different aspects of the bilateral relationship: Defence & Security, Trade & Investment, Innovation & Technology, Natural Resources & the Environment, Innovation & Education, and Emerging Asia. The final report of the project will draw on the deliberations of each working group.

The Emerging Asia working group is focused on the implications of major developments in Asia for the alliance relationship. A deliberately diverse group of authors will generate an array of perspectives on the topic. Each author will produce a paper that will inform the summary paper for the group, to be prepared by the group convenor, Andrew MacIntyre.