Military History: From Pacific War to Pacific Partnerships

From Pacific War to Pacific Partnerships

Guest Speaker: Dr. Kimi Coaldrake

A framed copy of the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald dated 16 August 1945 as the Pacific War ended hangs on a wall in the Club bar. It declares, “Japan Capitulates. Delirious Joyin Australia”. By comparison, the Australia-Japan Declaration on Security Cooperation was announced on 22 October 2022. This partnership reinforces the respective alliances of Australiaand Japan with the United States. Governments have a critical role in shaping these developments. However, we often overlook the contributions of individuals who have influenced the transformation of relationships between the three countries since 1945.

Club member, Dr. Kimi Coaldrake, an Australian who has a lifelong association with Japan andthe U.S., has had the privilege of being both a participant and observer of events that have contributed to the recent re-envisioning of strategic security relationships between Japan, Australia and the United States. She will share her wide-ranging personal and professional experience to provide perspectives on the transformation. She will focus on the shift from “hardpower” at the government level, as exemplified by the dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan in1945, to “soft power” as represented by social/humanitarian activities, cultural exchange and scientific collaborations for food and fuel security. Her examples provide insights into cooperation at the individual level and the shifting official policy for partnerships in the Pacific since 1945. These perspectives are relevant to current events in Europe and elsewhere.

Time: 1830 lecture begins; 1930 dinner

Members Price: $75.00; $15.00 lecture only

Non-Members: $85.00; $15.00 lecture only

Dress: Jacket and Tie

RSVP: By 5PM, Monday 4 September 2023

(Bookings cancelled after the RSVP will incur a 50% charge of the ticket price)

Dr Kimi Coaldrake Biography

Dr. Kimi Coaldrake is a co-founder and now Principal of PanPacific Technologies, a family-owned company in thebioprocess engineering sector. She has more than thirty-fiveyears working in industry and academia in the U.S., U.K.,Australia, Japan and the Middle East (UAE) including the use of algae for uranium recovery and CO2 sequestration, and the development of sustainable process designs for the U.S.Department of Energy algal biofuels projects.

She holds a B.A. from The University of Sydney, an M.A. (AsianStudies) from The University of Hawaii and a Ph.D. from TheUniversity of Michigan. She has also studied at the Australian Graduate School of Management and Harvard Business School.Dr. Coaldrake has been a musician since an early age starting lessons on the violin. She has had a lifelong association with Japan. She trained there on traditional instruments including the 13-string wooden koto, performing at the National Theatre in Japan and the Adelaide Festival.

Dr. Coaldrake has been a Visiting Research Fellow at theReischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. She has published widely in international journals and has also written a book on traditional Japanese musiciansas part of the University of Oxford’s highly acclaimed Nissan Institute/ Routledge Japanese Studies Series. She is a Fulbright scholar and has served as a local, state and country representative culminating with her appointment as a Fulbright Cultural Ambassador by the U.S. Congress.