Lowy Institute: Recent Episodes
Lowy Institute
The Lowy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan international policy think tank located in Sydney, Australia. The Institute provides high-quality research and distinctive perspectives on foreign policy trends shaping Australia and the world. We host podcasts with high-level guest speakers as well as our own experts. Essential listening for anyone seeking to better understand foreign policy challenges!
In the first episode of this new series of The Director’s Chair, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove is joined by respected Australian journalist Leigh Sales.
They discuss Leigh’s experience as a foreign correspondent in Washington, the shifts in American society that led to the rise of Donald Trump, why she still believes that journalists should be impartial — and she shares her reading and viewing recommendations.
Leigh Sales is host of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Australian Story. She is a former host of the national broadcaster’s flagship current affairs program, 7.30, served as the ABC’s chief Washington correspondent and is the host of her own successful podcast called Chat 10 Looks 3.
The Director’s Chair is a podcast by the Lowy Institute: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/
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@mfullilove
Host: Michael Fullilove
Producers: Josh Goding and Andrew Griffits
Research: David Vallance
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In this episode, the Lowy Institute’s Research Director Hervé Lemahieu talks with Ryan Neelam, the Institute’s Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program about the findings of the recently launched 2024 Global Diplomacy Index. What do diplomatic networks tell us about superpower rivalry, geopolitical competition, and a more multipolar world order? How do nations use diplomacy to build influence, and where are they targeting their investments? What does Australia’s relative underinvestment in diplomacy mean for its ability to advance its interests? In a broad-ranging discussion, Hervé and Ryan explore the often overlooked role of diplomacy in shaping the modern world.
2024 Global Diplomacy Index: https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/
2024 Global Diplomacy Index – Key Findings Report: https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/key_findings
America, take heed — China is winning the diplomacy race: Financial Times opinion piece by Ryan Neelam: https://www.ft.com/content/2a63a19b-1fed-4c1a-9f75-e09f5708a8c6
Australia’s ‘diplomatic deficit’ harms our global presence: Canberra Times opinion piece by Ryan Neelam and Hervé Lemahieu: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/australia-s-diplomatic-deficit-harms-our-global-presence
Five surprises from Lowy’s Global Diplomacy Index: Lowy Institute Interpreter article by Jack Sato:https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/five-surprises-lowy-s-global-diplomacy-index
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A conversation with Admiral John Aquilino on the increasing dangers in the Indo-Pacific, the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States, and the importance of the AUKUS security partnership. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove moderated the discussion, which also featured questions from the audience.
Admiral John Aquilino is the 26th Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, responsible for all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific, covering 36 nations, 14 time zones, and more than 50 per cent of the world's population. Aquilino graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1984 and earned his wings in August 1986. He served in numerous fighter squadrons, graduated from Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and completed Harvard Kennedy School's executive education program in national and international security. Prior to his assignment to US Indo-Pacific Command, Aquilino served as the 36th Commander of US Pacific Fleet.
RECORDED:
Tuesday 9 April 2024
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In this episode, the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen talks with his colleague, Research Fellow on Transnational Challenges Lydia Khalil, about her new research paper, Overcoming digital threats to democracy. The internet and social media are now our digital public square, yet these spaces are not governed that way. Lydia proposes that tech giants look to “deliberative democracy” practices — where small but representative groups of people make decisions after deliberating on issues in depth — to address issues of fairness and legitimacy in internet governance.
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In this special episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu talks with three experts about the outcome of Indonesia's presidential election on 14 February 2024. Quick counts point to a landslide victory for Prabowo Subianto. What drove this result? Who is the 72-year-old Prabowo? And what kind of Indonesia can we expect under his presidency? Listen to the discussion with Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, Dr Fakhridho (Ridho) Susrahadiansyah Bagus Pratama Susilo, Senior Analyst at Bower Group Asia, and Dr Abdul Rahman Yaacob, Research Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute.
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The Lowy Institute’s latest episode of Pacific Change Makers introduces a fresh and dynamic voice in Pacific affairs – Oliver Nobetau, the new FDC Pacific Fellow from Papua New Guinea.
Oliver’s journey is as unique as it is inspiring. Born in Germany to a diplomatic family, with roots in both Bougainville and West New Britain, he brings a rich blend of international exposure and local understanding.
Oliver’s involvement in key climate initiatives and significant security arrangements in Papua New Guinea, including the PNG-Australia Bilateral Security Agreement, offers listeners a window into the complex yet pivotal challenges facing the Pacific today.
Oliver remembers flying into Honiara, Solomon Islands, on a six-seater plane alongside senior government officials in the immediate aftermath of the November 2021 unrest, “I remember vividly…there was smoke blowing in the air when we landed. There was nobody on the runway…so we just had to land and figure out where to park the plane.”
One of the most poignant moments in the conversation is Oliver’s reflection on the personal impact of climate change: “The environment is constantly changing... swimming creeks are drying up, the fruit trees you would enjoy as a kid are no longer bearing the same.” This personal connection to environmental changes underscores the urgency of addressing climate challenge in the Pacific.
As Oliver embarks on his year with the Lowy Institute, his focus on research around climate-induced migration and PNG’s social and security landscape promises to bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the field.
Tune in to this episode of Pacific Change Makers for personal reflections from Oliver Nobetau, FDC Pacific Research Fellow and one of PNG’s emerging leaders, on witnessing the January unrest in Port Moresby, meeting the PNG Prime Minister, and working on some of the most impactful and high-profile regional security issues in the Pacific today.
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A conversation between chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times Gideon Rachman and the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM. They discussed the wars, summits and elections that will shape the international agenda in 2024, as well as the decision-makers and presidential aspirants who are influencing world affairs.
Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times and a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. Known for his witty and authoritative analysis of global affairs, he is the author of multiple books including most recently The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy Around the World. Gideon joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included assignments as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington, DC, and Bangkok. He is a former Lowy Institute Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow and delivered the 2022 Lowy Institute Media Lecture.
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As we usher in the new year, the global economy is at a turning point. From confronting an economic development crisis and addressing the good-jobs dilemma, to navigating the climate transition and charting a course towards a more sustainable and equitable form of globalisation, 2024 promises to be an interesting year.
In this episode of Development Futures, Alexandre Dayant, the Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, talks with Harvard professor and economist Dani Rodrik about the challenges of globalisation and the intensification of geopolitics on the global economy.
They discuss the role of redistributive domestic policies, the impact of US–China competition on the delivery of global public goods, and the risk of breakdown of the multilateral trade system. These are just a few of the topics covered in this wide-ranging conversation.
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In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program Dr Jess Collins speaks with Dame Annette King about her role as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia.
At the end of last year and with just a few weeks left in the role, Dame Annette sat down with Dr Collins in Canberra to reflect on her five-year term as High Commissioner to Australia — a post she considers one of New Zealand’s most important.
As Dame Annette notes, “Australia and New Zealand — there are no two closer countries on the planet.”
They discussed Dame Anette’s priorities for the Trans-Tasman arrangement, building the family-like relationship with Australia, the Australia–Tuvalu deal, New Zealand’s unique and strong relationship with the Pacific, and her country’s relationship with China amid growing tensions in the region.
In a wide-ranging discussion, they also touched on the Lowy Institute Poll, the war in Ukraine, New Zealand movies, cheese pies, and sport.
Dame Annette King commenced duties as the New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia in December 2018 and concluded her assignment in December 2023.
Prior to taking up this position, she served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011 and from 2014 until 2017.
She was a Senior Cabinet Minister in the Fourth and Fifth Labour Governments of New Zealand and was the MP for the Rongotai electorate in Wellington from 1996 to 2017. Dame Annette is New Zealand’s longest-serving female MP, with 30 years in parliament. Her portfolios included Health, Police, Transport, Justice, Immigration, Employment and States Services.
Pacific Change Makers is a podcast from the Lowy Institute: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/
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The Hon Anthony Albanese MP is the 31st Prime Minister of Australia. Since the election of his government in May 2022, Prime Minister Albanese has focused closely on issues of foreign policy, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Australia’s relations with allies and key regional partners.
The Lowy Lecture is the Institute’s flagship event and one of the world’s leading lecture series, at which a prominent individual reflects on Australia and the world. Past Lecturers include German Chancellor Angela Merkel; UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson; US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan; Lowy Institute Chairman Sir Frank Lowy; and several Australian prime ministers including Prime Minister John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Lowy Institute.
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From Ukraine to the Middle East, we are confronted by serious challenges to peace and security. Meantime, the prospect of Donald Trump's return to the White House looms. Around the world there has been a startling rise in illiberalism.
Fareed Zakaria joins Michael Fullilove on this episode of The Director’s Chair to discuss these issues, the state of the world today, and a life spent analysing world affairs.
Fareed Zakaria is the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN, a columnist for The Washington Post, and abestselling author.
The Director’s Chair is a podcast by the Lowy Institute: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/
Twitter:
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@mfullilove
@FareedZakaria
Host: Michael Fullilove
Producer: Darcy Milne
Research: David Vallance
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James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, spoke about strengthening Papua New Guinea's economy, climate change, and PNG’s place in the world.
After his remarks, the Prime Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
James Marape has served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019 and as a Member of Parliament representing the electorate of Tari-Pori Open in Hela Province since 2007.
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Many of the most economically efficient policies to reduce emissions, such as carbon pricing, have proven difficult to implement. In this episode of Development Futures, the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre Research Fellow Michelle Lyons speaks with Professor David Victor from UC San Diego on how to make climate policy work and ways to accelerate decarbonisation of the global economy. Their discussion includes the roles of carbon and offset markets in addressing climate change, opportunities for Australia and Pacific Island countries to accelerate climate action if their bid to co-host the 2026 UNFCCC Conference of the Parties is successful, and the importance of enhancing national institutional capacity when seeking to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
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In this episode, Michael Fullilove speaks with leading strategist and historian Eliot Cohen. They discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, the intelligence failures that led to the 7 October attacks on Israel, the prospect of Trump returning to the White House, and why people who care about international politics should read Shakespeare.
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To mark the launch of the latest Lowy Institute Paper, Modern Warfare: Lessons from Ukraine, we talk with the author, Sir Lawrence Freedman, about the Ukraine War. Join Lowy Institute analyst Sam Roggeveen for an in-depth discussion in which Sir Lawrence examines questions such as ‘Who is winning?’, ‘Will the West remain unified behind Ukraine?’, and ‘How does this war end?’. To buy Modern Warfare, visit the Penguin Books Australia website.
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A policy address given by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Hon Chris Bowen.
Chris Bowen entered Parliament in 2004 and has held a wide range of portfolios including serving as Treasurer, Minister for Human Services, Minister for Immigration and Minister for Financial Services. He served as Interim Leader of the Labor Party and Acting Leader of the Opposition following the 2013 Federal election and served as Shadow Treasurer.
This November, the world's attention will be on the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change held in Dubai. As countries convene to agree on efforts to mitigate the consequences of climate change, questions arise: what are the implications for Australia and what role does Australia play?
Minister Bowen will speak on the international dynamics affecting global climate action and how Australia’s ambition to become a Renewable Energy Superpower can help the world in the rapid transformation to reach net zero emissions. After his remarks, the Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
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For 650 days, Sean Turnell was a prisoner of the military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 2021. Incarcerated in some of Myanmar’s most notorious prisons, isolated, ill-treated, and ultimately convicted in a sham trial of effectively being a spy, the descent from his role as chief economic adviser to Myanmar’s civilian government was a steep one. From helping to design policies to entrench democracy and help make Myanmar the last and best of the Asian ‘tigers’, his task became one of simple and desperate survival. In An Unlikely Prisoner, Sean recounts how he not only survived his lengthy incarceration but left with his sense of humour intact and his spirit unbroken.
We were joined in conversation with the author, Dr Sean Turnell, moderated by Lowy Institute Research Director Hervé Lemahieu, with questions from the audience.
Dr Sean Turnell is a Senior Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, covering developments in Myanmar, the wider region, and international economic issues. Prior to his appointment as chief economic adviser to Myanmar’s civilian government, he was a Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, and a senior analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
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Progress depends on many choices, notably the ones we make about technology. The way in which we structure production and communication can either cater to the exclusive interests of a privileged few or lay the groundwork for widespread prosperity.
In this episode of Development Futures, Alexandre Dayant, the Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, talks with economist and author Daron Acemoglu of MIT about the challenge of shared prosperity and the policies that could bring about a more inclusive economy. They discuss the role institutions have in ensuring technologies benefit all, how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can reduce the gap between emerging and developed economies, and the role of foreign aid as a tool to reduce poverty. These are just a few of the topics covered in this wide-ranging discussion.
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In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program Dr Meg Keen speaks with Bougainville MP Geraldine Paul – businesswoman, advocate for women’s empowerment and a female minister in the Bougainville government.
Ms Paul believes an independent Bougainville is a “win-win situation” benefiting the region and PNG if “we all come together”. The overwhelming majority in Bougainville support independence – not only at the recent referendum when 97 per cent voted in favour, but also since before PNG statehood. She acknowledges the concerns of Bougainville’s neighbours and the PNG national government, but sees the issues as hurdles, not barriers.
She argues Bougainville has the human and natural resources to be successful. Even though many challenges lie ahead, the benefits are great and the independence goal achievable.
Geraldine Paul is the Bougainville Minister for Primary Industries, Marine Resources and Forestry. She is one of five women elected to Bougainville’s parliament and a member of cabinet. Before joining politics, she worked to re-establish agricultural livelihoods and industries after the Bougainville conflict that saw many lives and livelihoods lost. She promotes women’s economic empowerment and community development as a member of the Bougainville Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee.
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Multilateral institutions and the global financial system are on a transformative journey aimed at confronting the dual challenge of climate change and sustainable development. This multifaceted agenda involves substantial improvements to the governance structures of multilateral development banks, the redefinition of objectives and targets, and the creation of innovative financial instruments to mobilise both public and private capital for investments in climate and development. However, the journey is far from over, and many questions remain unanswered.
In this episode of Development Futures, Alexandre Dayant speaks with Clemence Landers, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. Together, they discuss ongoing reform efforts, explore innovative solutions to maximise the impact of MDBs, and analyse the implications of the US–China competition within the reform landscape. What steps can MDBs take to optimise their financial resources, and how can they navigate the potential trade-offs between climate and development financing? These are just a few of the questions covered in this wide-ranging discussion.
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An address by Hadja Lahbib, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, on business and human rights. The event was presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, who led the Belgian Economic Mission to Australia.
Following her address, the Minister joined the Lowy Institute’s Research Director Hervé Lemahieu for a panel conversation alongside Dr James Cockayne, Anti-Slavery Commissioner for New South Wales, and Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales. The discussion was centred on Europe’s expansion of corporate due diligence efforts and the implications for Australian businesses.
Tuesday 24 October 2023
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The FDC Pacific Lecture, was given by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, the Hon Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka.
The Hon Sitiveni Rabuka is Fiji’s seventh elected Prime Minister, having previously served in the role from 1992 to 1999. He is also the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Climate Change, Environment, Civil Service, Information, Public Enterprises and Veteran Affairs.
Prime Minister Rabuka has a distinguished military career and served as the Chair of Fiji’s Great Council of Chiefs from 1999 to 2001.
Prime Minister Rabuka spoke on Fiji’s economic recovery, future development ambitions and role in the region given intensifying geopolitical engagement. After his remarks, the Prime Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
The Prime Minister was introduced by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong.
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After a decade of foreign aid cuts, deprioritisation, and then securitisation, Australia finally has a new international development policy that aims to return development to the heart of Australia’s international statecraft. Leading that charge is Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy.
In this episode of Development Futures, Minister Conroy sits down with Roland Rajah, the director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute, to share his thoughts on what the new policy means. How will Australia’s development program be rebuilt? What is the relationship between development and geopolitics? What will the role of governance work and civil society be? Beyond the traditional aid program, will Australia increase its impact investment and clean energy financing to Southeast Asia, and can it still lend responsibly in the Pacific? And what will be Australia’s approach to reform of the multilateral system? These questions and more are covered in this wide-ranging discussion.
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The Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellowship brings an internationally recognised intellectual and policy leader to Australia to help deepen our debate on global issues.
Shivshankar Menon served as India’s National Security Adviser from 2010 to 2014, and prior to that as foreign secretary and ambassador to Beijing and Islamabad, among other capitals.
India, along with Asian geopolitics, has undergone rapid and accelerating change. Will India assume the role of a traditional power in a rebalanced Asian system? How will this affect the prospects for India’s increasingly close relationship with Australia and other major actors in the region? Shivshankar Menon argued that India’s move towards working ever more closely with the West is inevitable, but the devil is in the detail.
Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the significant contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.
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In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks to the leading Indian scholar and diplomat, Shivshankar Menon. They discuss Hamas’s attack on Israel, how India manages its relationship with China, and why he is an optimist about the relationship between India and Australia.
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The Group of 20 Common Framework was established in October 2020 as stress in sovereign debt levels of low-income countries began to emerge. However, the Framework is yet to substantially deliver on its objective of providing relief to those countries.
Mariza Cooray, Senior Economist at the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre, discusses the Common Framework and the broader debates on issues in sovereign debt reform with experts Ugo Panizza and Mitu Gulati.
Together, they explore why the Framework has failed, given the modern creditor landscape, whether the ongoing emerging market debt crises are as serious as those in the 1990s, the appetite for a global bankruptcy court, odious debt, and other policy issues that prevent the progress of a more inclusive sovereign debt architecture.
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The Green Climate Fund – the largest climate fund in the world – is seeking a new cash injection by donors in October 2023. But it's not all smooth sailing. Alexandre Dayant, the Deputy Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, discusses a recent Lowy Institute policy brief with two of the authors, Georgia Hammersley and Roland Rajah. Together, they explore the key challenges hampering the Fund's efficiency, propose several reforms, and spotlight Australia's potential role in helping realise them.
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An address by foreign relations expert and former diplomat Dr Martin Indyk on US diplomacy in the Middle East and elsewhere, and lessons from history. Dr Indyk discussed his recent biography, Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, and the relevance of US diplomat Dr Kissinger for modern foreign policy challenges, including in Ukraine. After his remarks, Dr Indyk spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.
Dr Martin Indyk is a former diplomat who is currently the Lowy Distinguished Fellow in US–Middle East Diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Prior to this, he was the executive vice president of the Brookings Institution. He served twice as US Ambassador to Israel, from 1995 to 1997, and again from 2000 to 2001. Dr Indyk was special assistant to President Bill Clinton, senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the US National Security Council, and assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs at the US State Department. From 2013 to 2014, he served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace. Ambassador Indyk is a founding member of the Lowy Institute Board.
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During a brief visit to Sydney, Major General (Ret'd) Tamir Hayman, Managing Director of the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, offered the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen his unique insights on where momentum now lies in the Ukraine war, whether Iran will pursue a nuclear weapon or stop just short of building one, and the role of secret intelligence in an age of ‘information super-abundance’.
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In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Dr Jessica Collins speaks with Vanuatu MPGloria Julia King – a mother of four, and a former national football player who is the first woman to be elected to Vanuatu’s parliament in 14 years.
Ms King pays respect to women who trailblazed before her but says, more than four decades on from independence, little has changed for women trying to make a career in national politics.
At a recent FIFA World Cup Gender Symposium hosted by Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Ms King said that “in the community, in education, in health, in sports, in football…whatever the association or institution you’re serving in, it is important that women have a place on the table where decisions have been made.”
She also says that while barriers persist for women in politics, sport is a great equalizer, irregardless of gender or ethnicity: “When it comes to football, when it comes to sports, all these barriers dissolve.”
Speakers
Gloria Julia King was elected to Vanuatu’s parliament in 2022 as representative for the Efate constituency, becoming the first woman elected to the chamber in 14 years. A former national football player and businesswoman, she was chef de mission of the Vanuatu team at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
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In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia. They discuss Estonia’s strong support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, the future of Russia in world affairs, and why democracies must work together to counter aggression and reinforce support for the international rules-based order.
Kaja Kallas has been the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia since 2021. She first became a member of Estonia’s parliament, the Riigikogu, in 2011, and served as a member of the European Parliament from 2014, before returning to politics in Estonia as leader of the Reform Party. She was returned as Prime Minister in March this year after general elections.
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Three years of global turmoil have broken many of our underlying assumptions about the world. Australians have emerged from this period with dramatically different views on the threats facing the nation. They express a sober optimism in some areas. And they have cautiously reassessed Australia’s relations with great powers.
The Lowy Institute held an event at the National Gallery of Victoria to unpack the findings of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll.
Now in its nineteenth year, this flagship research product is the longest-running and broadest survey of Australian public opinion on foreign policy and global events.
From attitudes to China and the United States, to support for Ukraine, belief in democracy, and thoughts on climate change and potential conflict in our region, the Lowy Institute Poll is the indispensable guide to how Australians see the world and their place in it.
Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, chaired this conversation with Ryan Neelam, Director of the Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program and author of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll, Lydia Khalil, Research Fellow on Transnational Challenges at the Lowy Institute, and Bec Strating, Director of La Trobe Asia and Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University.
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Russia’s war in Ukraine is now well into its second year. Ukraine’s much-foreshadowed counter-offensive is developing more slowly than expected. Meanwhile, Russia’s leadership was rocked by the recent failed mutiny by the private Wagner paramilitary group.
The Lowy Institute hosted Mick Ryan and Zoya Sheftalovich earlier in 2023 for an update on the Ukraine war. In July 2023, with Ukraine on the offensive and Russia’s internal political instability, we again hosted these two compelling experts to discuss how the war in Europe is evolving. The conversation was hosted by Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and included questions from the audience.
Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. His book, War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict, was published in 2022.
Zoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor for POLITICO, based in Sydney. She is a regular commentator on the Ukraine war for ABC News 24.
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In this episode of Conversations, Director of the Southeast Asia Program Susannah Patton talks with Thomas Parks, author of the recently published book, Southeast Asia’s Multipolar Future: Averting a New Cold Warabout how Southeast Asian countries are navigating growing US-China rivalry and the roles of the region’s diverse external partners, including Japan, Australia and India. Parks is optimistic about the future of the region, but also highlights emerging risks that could threaten Southeast Asian countries’ ability to remain non-aligned and open to all partners.
Thomas Parks has led research and managed aid programs across Southeast Asia with The Asia Foundation and the Australian government (DFAT) on geopolitics, security cooperation, ASEAN, economic development, conflict and governance. He is a graduate of Harvard and Johns Hopkins SAIS. His new book, Southeast Asia’s Multipolar Future, is published by Bloomsbury.
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What do Australians see as the key threats to the nation? How do they view China and the United States in the context of rising regional tensions? What do they think of AUKUS and nuclear-powered submarines? And how have attitudes to climate change and democracy evolved over time?
Join us in Canberra unpack the findings of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll.
Now in its nineteenth year, the Lowy Institute’s flagship annual poll is the longest running and broadest survey of Australian public opinion on foreign policy and global events. It is the key resource for anyone seeking to understand how Australians see the world and their place in it.
Stephen Dziedzic, ABC foreign affairs reporter, will chair this discussion with Ryan Neelam, the author of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll, Karen Middleton of The Saturday Paper, and Jennifer Hsu of the Lowy Institute.
Ryan Neelam is Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute and the author of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll. Before joining the Institute, Ryan spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat including as Deputy Consul-General in Hong Kong, and at the Australian Mission to the UN. Ryan has contributed to policy development and international agreements on economic, climate change, human rights and security issues.
Karen Middleton is Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper and has been covering national and international affairs across print and broadcast media for more than 30 years. Karen covered the September 11 attacks from New York City and Washington DC, the ensuing war in Afghanistan, and has authored two books - An Unwinnable War - Australia in Afghanistan (2011), and biography of the now-prime minister, Albanese - Telling it Straight (2016). She is a former president of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery and Churchill Fellow and, in 2020, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra. She is an experienced commentator in Australian and international media.
Dr Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute. She is the author of the 2023 study Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities. After completing her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, she researched and taught development studies, political science and sociology in universities in North America and the United Kingdom. Jennifer is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.
Stephen Dziedzic (moderator), is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s foreign affairs (Asia-Pacific) reporter, based in the Parliament House bureau. He covers foreign policy and Australia's relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Stephen has worked for the ABC since 2007 and spent five years covering federal politics.
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In this podcast Dr Meg Keen speaks with Solomon Islands’ opposition MP Peter Kenilorea about the challenges ahead as the country gears up to host the Pacific Games and face an election early next year. Peter shares his thoughts on domestic security, slow economic growth, geopolitics and Solomon Islands-China relations: “My biggest fear is to be so dependent on one partner … you’re at their whim”. He reflects on the high expectations from his electorate and pressing social issues such as delivering education and opportunities for youth.
Peter Kenilorea Jr is the member for East Are’Are in the Solomon Islands parliament. He was elected to Parliament in 2019 after working in senior posts at the United Nations, the Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in legal practice. His father, Sir Peter Kenilorea, was Solomon Islands’ first Prime Minister after independence.
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Nonresident Fellow Dr Bobo Lo speaks with International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen about the attempted coup by elements of the Wagner paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. They discuss the mutiny, the likely impact on Russia’s leadership, and what effect it will have on the future direction of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Dr Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, DC, and an Associate Research Fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). Previously, he was Head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, and Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Moscow. He is the author of a number of books including the Lowy Institute Paper A Wary Embrace: What the China–Russia Relationship Means for the World. He has an MA from Oxford and a PhD from Melbourne University.
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Project Director and Research Fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu talks with Dr Max Grömping and Professor Jessica Teets to explore how lobbying by civil society organisations works in an authoritarian context. Using case studies from China, Russia, Belarus, Cambodia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Turkey and Zimbabwe, Lobbying the Autocrat explores how citizen advocacy organisations carve out niches in the authoritarian policy process, even influencing policy outcomes.
Dr Max Grömping is senior lecturer at the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University (Australia). His research interests include lobbying and advocacy in different political regime contexts, disinformation, and electoral integrity. He previously worked as lecturer at Heidelberg University (Germany), research associate at the University of Sydney (Australia), and instructor in international relations at Thammasat University (Thailand). Max is an affiliate of the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), and associate editor for the journal Democratization. His work has been published in academic journals such as Political Communication, Governance, Party Politics, and Policy Sciences, among others.
Professor Jessica C. Teets is Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College and Templeton Fellow for the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Her research focuses on governance in authoritarian regimes, especially the role of civic participation. She is the author of Civil Society Under Authoritarianism: The China Model (Cambridge University Press, 2014), editor (with William Hurst) of Local Governance Innovation in China: Experimentation, Diffusion, and Defiance (Routledge Contemporary China Series, 2014), and editor (with Max Grömping) of Lobbying the Autocrat: The Dynamics of Policy Advocacy in Nondemocracies (University of Michigan Press, 2023).
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China’s remarkable economic rise has long been a key factor in global geopolitical discussions. But how soon and at what height will China’s economy peak? What are the implications for China’s ambitions in the world?
For years, predictions suggested that China’s economic power would surpass that of the United States by the end of this decade. However, recent developments, backed by Lowy analysis, have challenged this assumption.
In this event we unpacked the findings of original Lowy Institute research and explored the concept of ‘Peak China’ with the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist Roland Rajah, Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor and Nonresident Fellow Dr Jenny Gordon.
The event was moderated by Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu. Our panellists discussed the implications of this potential turning point and what it means for China's future prospects, as well as the repercussions it may have for the rest of the world.
Roland Rajah is Lead Economist at the Lowy Institute and the Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre. A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific. He has previously worked for the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Roland is the co-author with Alyssa Leng of the influential Lowy Institute Analysis paper Revising down the rise of China.
Richard McGregor is Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute. He is a former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and the author of numerous books on East Asia including Xi Jinping: The Backlash (2019) and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century (2017). His 2010 book, The Party, on the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party, was translated into seven languages and chosen by the Asia Society and Mainichi Shimbun in Japan as their book of the year.
Jenny Gordon is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Chief Economist at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Dr Gordon is a member of the Australian International Agricultural Research Centre’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisory Panel, and the Asian Development Bank Institute’s Advisory Committee. She is also an Honorary Professor at ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods.
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In this episode of Conversations, Susannah Patton, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, talks with Dr Nguyen Hung Son, Vice President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. They discuss Vietnam’s foreign policy outlook, relations with external partners, including Australia, and how Vietnam sees key regional issues such as the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the conflict in Myanmar. Dr Son highlights Vietnam’s continued focus on diplomacy within ASEAN, as well as its interest in a regional balance of power that could lower the risk of conflict.
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The World Bank recently released its “Evolution Roadmap”, aimed at responding more efficiently to growing poverty reduction needs and better addressing climate change challenges.
While the roadmap provides a good starting point — outlining the evolution of the bank's mission, operations and financing model — it falls short in providing concrete and detailed strategies to achieve an ambitious reform.
To discuss the roadmap and the future of the World Bank, Deputy Director of the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre Alexandre Dayant sat with Manuela V. Ferro, the World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific. An economist and engineer by training, Ms Ferro has more than 25 years of hands-on and leadership experience in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. She has shaped creative development solutions for multiple and diverse countries, from post-conflict low-income nations to upper middle-income states.
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Australia is home to 1.4 million people with Chinese ancestry. At a time of heightened concern about national security and foreign interference, how do Chinese-Australians see Australia and their place in it? How do Chinese-Australians consume news and information? And how do they view the wider world, including the growing geopolitical tensions in the region?
On 2 May the panel unpacked the findings of the 2023 Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey report with author and Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu, Jieh-Yung Lo and Yun Jiang. The event was chaired by Pablo Viñales.
Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute. Jennifer is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Her research expertise broadly covers state-society relations, state-NGO relations, the internationalisation of Chinese NGOs, civil society and the Chinese diaspora.
Jieh-Yung Lo is Founding Director of the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership (CAAL) at the Australian National University. Jieh-Yung has worked in various public policy and project management roles and served in leadership positions across not-for-profit, entrepreneurship and government. He served two terms as a Councillor with the City of Monash including two years as Deputy Mayor.
Yun Jiang is the Australian Institute of International Affairs China Matters Fellow. She is formerly the co-founder and editor of China Neican, as well as a managing editor of the China Story blog at the Australian National University. She has published widely on China-related topics. She was previously a policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Treasury and the Department of Defence.
Pablo Viñales is the Political Correspondent at SBS World News. Aside from federal politics, much of his work focuses on the changing geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific and the China–Australia relationship.
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Australia’s strategic outlook on the Indo-Pacific is changing rapidly, as reflected by the recent AUKUS announcement, forthcoming Defence Strategic Review and membership of new regional minilateral groupings such as the Quad. These changes will have important implications for Australia’s relations with neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia, and especially Indonesia, highlighted by Jakarta’s mixed response to the AUKUS announcement in 2021. How widespread are concerns about AUKUS and Australian strategic policy more generally within Indonesia? Are the two countries experiencing a divergence in their strategic outlooks? And how should the two sides manage the risk of such a divergence in the years ahead?
On Wednesday 26 April 2023, the Lowy Institute hosted an event at Old Parliament House, Canberra featuring Dr Evan A. Laksmana, Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, in conversation with Richard Maude of the Asia Society Policy Institute. The event was moderated by Susannah Patton, Southeast Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute.
Dr Evan A. Laksmana is a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is also a Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow.
Richard Maude is Executive Director, Policy, and Senior Fellow of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He is a former Director-General of the Office of National Assessments and head of the whole-of-government taskforce which prepared the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.
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On Monday 24 April 2023, Australia’s government published the public version of its Defence Strategic Review, a report it commissioned on coming to office to set the agenda for reforms to the posture and structure of the Australian Defence Force. Positioned alongside the government’s commitment to the AUKUS security agreement, the Review and the government’s response to it have signalled major changes to how Australia intends to invest in military technology, hardware and personnel over the next two decades.
In this new episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, military strategist Mick Ryan discusses the Review with the Institute’s International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen. They discuss what the report reveals about Australia’s plans for its military, but also what is missing. They also talk about defence bureaucracy, the role of the Ukraine war in Australia’s strategic thinking, and challenges for the future leadership of Australia’s armed forces.
Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He spent 35 years in the Australian Army. His operational service includes deployments to East Timor, Iraq and southern Afghanistan. His book, War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict, was published in 2022.
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In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Dr Meg Keen speaks with Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls in Suva, Fiji about social activism in the Pacific.
Sharon is the Regional Representative of the Shifting the Power Coalition, a Pacific Island feminist coalition working on challenges affecting the region's future including climate change, social justice, and gender and community equality.
She speaks with Meg about how her family and faith have motivated her to make a difference. They discuss how women and marginalised groups can be more prominent voices in society - in political settings but also in media, community and key social groups. Sharon works in professional and community networks to hold power accountable, deliver local solutions, and promote appropriate technology to build resilience.
Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls is a Pacific Island feminist working on the intersection of gender, media, climate change and peace. From Fiji, she serves as the regional representative of the Shifting the Power Coalition, a team of women leaders and networks across Pacific Island Forum countries: Australia, Bougainville, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu – with a network of close to 100,000 grassroots members. In 2000, she co-founded FemLINKpacific and developed it into a leading community organisation supporting women's networking, media and research.
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On 19 April, the Lowy Institute hosted the launch of the 2023 Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey report with author and Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu, along with guests Samuel Yang and Lucy Du. The event was chaired by the Director of the Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, Ryan Neelam.
Dr Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute. After completing her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, she researched and taught development studies, political science and sociology in universities in North America and the United Kingdom. Jennifer is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Her research expertise covers state-society relations, state-NGO relations, the internationalisation of Chinese NGOs, civil society and the Chinese diaspora and she has published widely in these areas.
Samuel Yang is a Chinese-Australian bilingual journalist and presenter. He is currently a co-host of China Tonight on ABC TV. He joined the ABC in 2018 and has previously worked as a business reporter and presenter in Sydney, and a bilingual reporter and producer in Melbourne. He has lived across the Asia-Pacific including in China, Singapore and New Zealand. His work has won the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Public Interest Award and he was nominated for Young Journalist of the Year in 2020.
Lucy Du is the CEO of the Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative (ACYPI), the single largest young professionals organisation in the Australia-China space. She began her career in Canberra and then went on to work in China for one of Australia’s big four banks and later for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Shanghai. She is currently Head of Community at Belz Family & Associates, a global private assets investment platform for Asian and Australian investors. Lucy is bilingual in English and Chinese and has completed studies at the University of Melbourne, Australian National University and Tsinghua University.
Ryan Neelam is Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program and is Project Lead on the annual flagship publication, the Lowy Institute Poll. Before joining the Institute, Ryan spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat including as Deputy Consul-General in Hong Kong, and at the Australian Mission to the UN. Ryan has contributed to policy development and international agreements on economic, climate change, human rights and security issues.
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With the announcement of Australia’s pathway towards nuclear-powered submarines, and the forthcoming release of the Government’s response to the Defence Strategic Review, this event offered the rare opportunity to hear from Australia’s most senior military officer about the international security environment and how Australia is responding to it. After his remarks, General Angus Campbell AO DSC spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
General Campbell joined the Australian Army in 1981, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1984. In 2005, he joined the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet as a First Assistant Secretary to head the Office of National Security and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Secretary and appointed to the position of Deputy National Security Adviser. Upon his return to the Australian Defence Force in early 2010, he was appointed to the rank of Major General. In 2015, he was appointed Chief of the Australian Army, and in 2018 appointed to command of the Australian Defence Force.
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The announcement of Australia’s preferred technology pathway for the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines has been described as the most significant shift in the country’s strategic outlook since the Second World War. Coupled with the forthcoming publication of the Defence Strategic Review, Australia’s national security environment is set for significant change. What is the future of Australian defence policy, Australia’s place in the region, and its relations with the United States and the United Kingdom? For this panel discussion, Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, spoke with Dr Charles Edel, Dr Lavina Lee and Justin Burke about the big decisions shaping Australia’s national security policy.
Dr Charles Edel is the inaugural Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. He previously taught at the University of Sydney, where he was also a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. Prior to that, he was a professor of strategy and policy at the US Naval War College and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015 to 2017.
Dr Lavina Lee is a senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Sydney. She is a member of the Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a nonresident fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Justin Burke is the 2022 Thawley Scholar in International Relations at the Lowy Institute and Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is a nonresident fellow with the Institute for Security Policy at the University of Kiel in Germany. Justin is a PhD candidate in naval power at Macquarie University and was previously a journalist with The Australian and Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun.
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In this new episode of Pacific Change Makers, Dr Meg Keen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program discusses politics, priorities and problems with the Chief Secretary to PNG’s Government, Ivan Pomaleu. Drawing on his deep and long experience in government and unparalleled knowledge of PNG politics and policies, Mr Pomaleu shares his thoughts on the big issues facing PNG, the outcomes of recent ministerial talks with Australia, and details some of the challenges ahead including finding agreement on the future of Bougainville, and how the region is responding to geopolitical contest.
Ivan Pomaleu is the is the Chief Secretary to the government of Papua New Guinea and heads the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council. Prior to his appointment as the country’s most senior bureaucrat, he served as PNG’s Ambassador to APEC and was managing director of the PNG Investment Promotion Authority.
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The inaugural FDC Pacific Lecture was given by the Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa at Old Parliament House, Canberra on Monday 20 March 2023.
The Hon Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is Samoa’s seventh prime minister and the first woman to be elected to the role. She was also the country’s first female cabinet minister and deputy prime minister. As the leader of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party, she became prime minister after elections in 2021. Prime Minister Fiamē was first elected to parliament in 1985 and was appointed to her first cabinet ministry in 1991, going on to serve in a range of portfolios including Education, Justice and Environment. From 2006 to 2012, she was the chair and pro-chancellor of the University of the South Pacific.
The FDC Pacific Lecture has been established with the support of the Foundation for Development Cooperation, which has also established the FDC Pacific Fellowship in conjunction with the Lowy Institute.
The Prime Minister was introduced by the Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Hon Pat Conroy MP. After her remarks, Prime Minister Fiamē spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
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On 14 March 2023, Australian foreign policy expert and former Lowy Institute Executive Director Professor Michael Wesley launched his new book Helpem Fren: Australia and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (MUP 2023). The book is the first comprehensive history of Australia’s RAMSI intervention, which was aimed at preventing the collapse of the Pacific Island state. Helpem Fren draws on still-classified official documents and more than 30 interviews to explore the motivations and dynamics behind the 14-year Pacific-wide mission — a project that cost more than $2 billion and involved thousands of soldiers, police and public servants from Australia and across the Pacific. RAMSI was remarkably successful in an age of disastrous interventions, yet its legacy has largely vanished from Australia’s public consciousness. Professor Wesley joined the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program Director Meg Keen, to discuss the challenges of interventions and development assistance in a Pacific that is more geopolitically contested than it has been for 70 years.
Michael Wesley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Professor of Politics at the University of Melbourne. His research and writing focus on Australian foreign policy and the international affairs of Asia and the Pacific. Previously, he was Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. He has also held positions as Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.
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The global campaign to secure protections for LGBTQIA+ people has made significant progress in recent years, yet laws governing LGBTQIA+ rights in the Pacific are complex across the region and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ individuals varies widely.
On 1-3 March 2023, Australia hosted the Sydney WorldPride Human Rights Conference – the largest LGBTQIA+ human rights conference ever to be held in the southern hemisphere. In this episode of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Change Makers Podcast, Hamish Fejo, a Visiting Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, speaks with presenters at the conference, Phylesha Brown-Acton and Louisa Wall.
Phylesha Brown-Acton is a Fakafifine woman and hails from the village of Fineone Hakupu Atua, Niue Island. She is the Executive Director of F’INE Pasifika Aotearoa Trust, a Pacific Whanau Ora funded organisation that provides navigation support services to MVPFAFF+ & Pacific LGBTQIA+ people and their families in the Auckland region.
Louisa Wall became Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Ambassador for Gender Equality (Pacific) Tuia Tangata in May 2022. She is a former politician and was influential in the Marriage Amendment Bill being passed into law in 2013 making New Zealand the 13th nation to allow same-sex marriage. As Ambassador for Gender Equality, Ms Wall is working with Pacific countries to establish net partnerships and programmes that support the full and effective participation by women and LGBTQIA+ communities.
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Entering the second year of the Russia–Ukraine conflict the Lowy Institute hosted a a conversation with two compelling speakers about what 2023 will bring. Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan has become a globally recognised commentator on the military campaign in Ukraine, while Ukrainian-born journalist Zoya Sheftalovich (POLITICO) has recently returned from Europe, where she covered President Zelenskyy’s visits to London and Brussels. The conversation was chaired by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program.
Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He spent 35 years in the Australian Army. His operational service includes deployments to East Timor, Iraq and southern Afghanistan. His book, War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict, was published in 2022.
Zoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor for POLITICO, currently based in Sydney. She is also a regular commentator on the Ukraine war for ABC News 24.
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Over the past decade, there has been more emphasis on gender in foreign policy and national security. What does this mean? Should foreign policy be a vehicle for the promotion of gender equality and how is that in Australia’s interest? How are women in foreign policy and national security leadership positions making an impact on the world stage? And are we witnessing a global backlash against women’s rights?
To mark International Womens Day the Lowy Institute hosted this event featuring researchers Jennifer Hsu, Jessica Collins and Meg Keen for a conversation chaired by Lydia Khalil to discuss these issues and offer their perspectives as women working in the field.
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On Monday 6 February, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion at the National Gallery of Victoria featuring Institute experts to discuss the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2023. The panel was chaired by Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine The Interpreter, and included Meg Keen, Director, Pacific Islands Program; Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia; Sam Roggeveen, Director, International Security Program; and Lydia Khalil, Research Fellow, Transnational Challenges.
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The Asia Power Index 2023 is the fifth edition of the digital analytical tool that ranks 26 countries according to the power they wield in the Indo-Pacific Region.
In this video event, Project Lead Susannah Patton and Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu discuss the findings from the 2023 Asia Power Index with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove. They discuss the rankings for the 2023 Index, the impact of Covid-19 on the influence of countries such as China, and the reasons why the United States continues to be the top-ranked country for power in Asia.
ABOUT THE ASIA POWER INDEX
The Asia Power Index was first published in 2018. It evaluates the balance of power in Asia through 133 indicators across eight thematic measures: Military Capability and Defence Networks, Economic Capability and Relationships, Diplomatic and Cultural Influence, as well as Resilience and Future Resources. More than half of our data points involve original Lowy Institute research, while the rest are aggregated from hundreds of publicly available national and international sources.
This year, the Index includes three new indicators based on primary research that track high-level diplomatic engagement between all Index countries, enabling new comparisons of diplomatic and defence influence across Asia. These new indicators quantify the number of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic dialogues at foreign minister level and above held by each Index country, along with their convening power — the number of visits by regional leaders or foreign ministers hosted by each country.
In 2023, the top ten countries for overall power are: the United States, China, Japan, India, Russia, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. The only country to improve its comprehensive power ranking in 2023 is Cambodia, which has risen two places to become the 20th ranked power in the region.
Find out more: https://power.lowyinstitute.org
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The Pacific Fusion Centre is a new Pacific regional body aiming to critically analyse the pressing security issues facing the Pacific Islands and better inform decision-making to reduce threats and vulnerabilities. Can the Pacific Fusion Centre make a difference in a crowded regional space where there are calls to review and rethink regional architecture?
In this inaugural episode of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Change Makers Podcast, Dr Meg Keen, Director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, speaks with James Movick, the Director of the Pacific Fusion Centre and a senior diplomat with more than 40 years of experience in the Pacific, including heading up the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency. We also gain the insights of Anna Naupa, the Associate Director of the Centre who has a great depth of experience in intergovernmental agencies around the region.
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In a special in-person conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Bill Gates spoke about global health, pandemic preparedness, food security and climate change.
Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975, growing the company into a global leader in business and personal software. In 2008, Gates shifted focus to the Gates Foundation’s work on increasing opportunities for the world’s most disadvantaged people. Through the Foundation, he has spent more than 20 years working on global health and development issues including pandemic prevention; disease eradication; maternal, newborn and child health; agricultural development; and water, sanitation and hygiene. In 2010, he co-founded the Giving Pledge to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organisations during their lifetime or in their will. Monday 23 January 2023
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Hervé Lemahieu discusses the continuing threat of nuclear weapons, global efforts at arms control and Australia's interactions with the global non-proliferation regime around its proposed acquisition of nuclear submarine technology under the AUKUS agreement. He speaks with Australia's Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-proliferation Ian Biggs, Program Officer for Nuclear Materials Security Jessica Bufford and Dr Geoffrey Shaw, Director-General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO).
Ian Biggs was appointed Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation in January 2022 and leads Australia's international advocacy on global arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament. He has previously served as Australia's Ambassador to Iran (2016-19), Turkey (2011-14) and Saudi Arabia (2005-08) and has previously served in postings in Iraq, India, Austria and Syria. Ambassador Biggs has also served as Secretary of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Chair of the Australia Group, Special Assistant to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group's Dual Use Regime. He holds a Master of Arts (International Relations) from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Sydney.
Jessica Bufford serves as a program officer in the Nuclear Material Security team at the Nuclear Threat Initiative - a nonprofit, nonpartisan global security organization focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity. Prior to joining NTI, she worked in the Division of Nuclear Security at the IAEA. She has also worked on materials management and minimization at the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration, and worked previously at NTI as a Herbert J. Scoville Fellow. She received a master’s degree in nonproliferation and terrorism studies, with a certificate in conflict resolution, from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Austin College.
Dr Geoffrey Shaw is Director-General of the Australian Nuclear Safeguards Office (ASNO), a role he was appointed to in December 2021. He is a career public servant with strong technical skills and expertise in arms control and non-proliferation, particularly on chemical weapons issues. He was previously Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan. Dr Shaw also served as the Representative of the Director General of the IAEA to the United Nations from 2010 to 2015, and as Assistant Secretary ASNO from 2008-2010. Dr Shaw holds a Doctorate in Philosophy (Chemistry) from the Australian National University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Wollongong.
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In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Dr Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser. They discuss the role of individuals in history, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the future of Australia's relationship with China.
Dr Henry Kissinger was National Security Adviser to both the Nixon and Ford administrations, and from 1973 to 1977, he served as the 56th US Secretary of State. He is the only person to serve concurrently in both roles. Born in Germany, Dr Kissinger emigrated to the United States in 1938 and became a citizen in 1943. He received MA and PhD degrees from Harvard University in 1952 and 1954. His most recent book is Leadership: Six studies in World Strategy published in 2022 by Penguin.
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Susannah Patton talks to Amrita Malhi, senior development policy adviser and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Flinders History and the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, about the political outlook for Malaysia following the November general election. The election saw victory for Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-racial coalition, which has now formed a national unity government. What drove this result, and will Malaysia see greater political stability than it has endured since the 2018 election? What kind of international role is Prime Minister Anwar likely to pursue?
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In this special episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland. They discuss Finland's decision to join NATO, and the security challenges facing all of Europe as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This conversation was recorded at a live event at the Lowy Institute on 2 December 2022.
Sanna Marinwas appointed Prime Minister of Finland on 10 December 2019. She has been actively engaged in politics since 2006. In 2015, she was elected to Parliament and has been a member of the Grand Committee, Legal Affairs Committee and Environment Committee. Ms Marin is the third female Prime Minister of Finland and the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history.
Video and audio recordings of the full event are available at the Lowy Institute website.
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In this event, 2022 Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow Gideon Rachman reflected on 'The Age of the Strongman' - our new era of authoritarian leaders who have become a central feature of global politics in capitals as diverse as Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington. The speech was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil, author of Rise of the Extreme Right: The New Global Extremism and the Threat to Democracy.
Gideon Rachman became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington, DC and Bangkok. He also edited the business and Asia sections of The Economist. His interests include US foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation. His most recent book is The Age of the Strongman: How the cult of leader threatens democracy around the world was published in 2022.
This event was recorded at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on 24 November 2022.
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The 2022 Lowy Lecture was delivered by World Trade Organization Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Sydney Town Hall on 22 November 2022. Dr Okonjo-Iweala's address was titled The Multilateral Trading System in a Changing World: De-globalization or Re-globalization?
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and first African to hold the office of Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Dr Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development professional with more than 40 years of experience. She has twice served as Nigeria's Finance Minister (2003–06 and 2011–15). In 2021, Time magazine recognised her as one of the world's most influential people.
The annual Lowy Lecture is the Lowy Institute’s flagship event, at which a prominent individual reflects on Australia and the world. Past Lecturers include German Chancellor Angela Merkel; UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson; US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan; Lowy Institute Chairman Sir Frank Lowy; and several Australian prime ministers including Prime Minister John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.
The full text of Dr Okonjo-Iweala's address is available at the Lowy Institute website.
The Lowy Institute acknowledges the generous support of the 2022 Lowy Lecture by King & Wood Mallesons.
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In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Sir Lawrence Freedman,who is in Australia as the Lowy Institute’s 2022 Distinguished Fellow for International Security. Michael and Sir Lawrence discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the lessons it offers for military strategists around the world. They discuss the implications for China and Taiwan, and how the AUKUS security pact has changed Australia’s strategic outlook.
Sir Lawrence Freedman is Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995 and awarded the CBE in 1996, he was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997. In 2003, he was awarded the KCMG. In June 2009, he was appointed to serve as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War. He has written widely on international history, strategic theory and nuclear weapons issues, as well as commenting on current security issues. Among his books are Strategy: A History (2013) and Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine (2022).
The Distinguished Fellowship for International Security is supported by the Australian Department of Defence through the Strategic Policy Grants program.
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The 2022 Lowy Institute Media Lecture was delivered by the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist Gideon Rachman, who reflected on the place of foreign news coverage in a fracturing media environment.
Gideon Rachman became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included assignments as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington, DC, and Bangkok. He has also edited the business and Asia sections of The Economist. His interests include American foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation. His most recent book is titled The Age of the Strongman: How the cult of leader threatens democracy around the world.
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What does great power competition mean, and where did the concept come from? In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott speaks to author and analyst Ali Wyne about great power competition. They discuss whether it is a useful way of thinking about the world, and whether it can help foreign policymakers when they are deciding what to do.
Ali Wyne is a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro practice, where he focuses on US-China relations and great-power competition. He is the author, most recently, of America’s Great-Power Opportunity: Revitalising US Foreign Policy to Meet the Challenges of Strategic Competition.
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In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with author and journalist Susan Glasser about next week's US midterm elections and the likely results. They discuss US political perspectives on the war in Ukraine, the Biden Administration's performance on foreign policy, and the continued influence of former president Donald Trump on US politics.
Susan Glasser is a journalist and author, and currently a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes a weekly column on life in Washington. She has been the editor of Politico Magazine and the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy. With her husband Peter Baker of The New York Times she has written two books: The Man Who Ran Washington, a biography of the statesman and politician James Baker which was published in 2020, and The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, which was published in September by Doubleday.
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In this episode of Conversations, Hervé Lemahieu talks with Xueyin Zha and Jennifer Hsu about the Chinese messaging app and the role in it plays in the democratic participation of Chinese-Australians. They discuss the inherent risks and drawbacks of WeChat, such as censorship, but also explore how it became a medium of outreach and civic engagement for Chinese-Australians during the 2021 New South Wales local elections.
Xueyin Zha is a doctoral candidate at the Australian National University, researching the global governance of advanced technology. She is also a researcher at ANU's interdisciplinary research project: Humanising Machine Intelligence. Her current research interests span technology regulation, international politics of the digital economy, and technology's role in multiculturalism.
Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program. She works on the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project.
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In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with His Excellency José Ramos-Horta, the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. José and Michael discuss the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, relations between Timor-Leste and Australia and the role of China's in the Indo-Pacific region. José reflects on his time in leadership roles, and the need for his generation to effectively hand on political power to younger generations.
José Ramos-Horta was Timor-Leste's first foreign minister when it declared independence from Portugal in 1975. Following Indonesia’s invasion later that year, he became the international voice of the Timorese people. In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. When Timor-Leste became a new nation following the Popular Consultation of 1999, he returned from exile to serve as the new nation’s first foreign minister. From 2006 to 2007 he served as Prime Minister, and from 2007 to 2012 he served as President. This year he came out of retirement and returned to the presidential palace. He was inaugurated on 20 May, which was 20th anniversary of the restoration of Timor-Leste’s independence.
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Nixi Cura to explore and assess some of China’s major soft power initiatives, including its successes and failures over the last five years. They discuss the role of Chinese visual culture, notably contemporary Chinese art as a medium of projecting China’s soft power.
Nixi Cura read East Asian Studies at Yale University then specialised in Chinese painting, Buddhist art and Romanesque architecture at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Nixi was the Director of the Arts of China programs at Christie’s Education in London. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow and has held the role of Senior Fellow in the Cultural Leadership program at the Royal Academy of Arts. At SOAS University of London she served as Senior Teaching Fellow in Art History & Archaeology, and as a Doctoral Researcher embarked on a project focusing on the tomb of the Qianlong emperor. Nixi’s publications and research interests range from Qing painting and material culture to modern and contemporary Chinese visual culture.
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In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Sarah Tong to explore and assess some of the key stressors of the Chinese economy and major economic policies that have emerged in the last five years. They discuss the contradictory forces at play that are impeding economic structural reforms, the prospect of slower growth and how the international environment will shape domestic economic priorities.
Sarah Tong is a Senior Research Fellow of the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute and leads its economics cluster. She previously worked at the Development Research Centre of China’s State Council. She obtained her PhD in Economics from the University of California at San Diego. Her research interests concentrate on the development and transformation of the Chinese economy, including trade and foreign investment, development of regions, financial sector reforms, reforms of state-owned enterprises, and China’s evolving industrial and technology policies. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Journal of International Economics and the Review of Development Economics.
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The Chinese Communist Party will shortly hold its 20th National Congress during a highly unsettled period in international affairs. In February, after President Putin and President Xi declared a "friendship without limits", Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine. In August, China responded to US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei with major military exercises. Meanwhile, President Biden has become increasingly vocal in his support for Taiwan.
Just days ahead of the CCP Congress, the Lowy Institute hosted the head of one of the most influential think tanks in Washington. Richard Fontaine addressed the Lowy Institute on the present and future of international order. After his remarks, Mr Fontaine spoke with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove about US security policy in Asia, China’s challenge to the United States and the rules-based order, as well as how the Ukraine war is being viewed in Washington.
Richard Fontaine is Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security. He served as President of CNAS from 2012–19 and before that as Senior Fellow from 2009–12. Prior to his time at CNAS, he was foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain and worked at the US State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
This event was hosted as part of the project Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order, which receives funding from the Australian Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grants Program.
See more about this event at the Lowy Institute website.
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At a time of significant geopolitical uncertainty, India is taking an ever more prominent role in world affairs. From its membership of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, to the influential part that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played in talks with Russia's President at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, India is asserting its voice on major international issues.
Dr S. Jaishankar is India's leading diplomat. Before entering parliament, he was Foreign Secretary, and previously served as Ambassador in Beijing and Washington, DC. Before that he held posts in Tokyo, Moscow, Singapore, Colombo and Budapest. Dr Jaishankar addressed the Lowy Institute on the growing importance of India's relationship with Australia and the interests that both countries share as members of the security-focused Quad. After his remarks, Dr Jaishankar spoke in conversation with Executive Director Michael Fullilove.
Dr S. Jaishankar was appointed India's Minister for External Affairs in 2019 following his election to the upper house of India's parliament for the state of Gujarat. Dr Jaishankar served as Foreign Secretary (2015–2018) and previously represented India in a number of senior diplomatic roles including Ambassador to the United States (2013–2015) and Ambassador to China (2009–2013). Dr Jaishankar holds a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and in 2019 was awarded the Padma Shri civilian honour. His book, The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World, was published in 2020.
For more information about this event, visit the Lowy Institute website.
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become an international symbol of resistance as he leads his country’s response to Russia’s brutal invasion. From his defiant leadership on the streets of Kyiv in the early weeks of the attack to his eloquent advocacy on the global stage, President Zelenskyy has become an internationally admired figure at the heart of some of the most remarkable events in world affairs in recent decades.
In this special address, President Zelenskyy spoke from Ukraine via live video link. After his address, he spoke in conversation with Executive Director Michael Fullilove.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected President of Ukraine in 2019. He graduated from the Kyiv National Economic University in 2000 with a degree in law before co-founding and leading the television production company Kvartal 95, responsible for the comedy series Servant of the People, in which he played a teacher who was unexpectedly elected president. President Zelenskyy's heroic leadership in leading Ukraine’s defence against Russia's invasion has been recognised around the world, including in the form of the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award and the 2022 Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library.
More information about this event can be found at the Lowy Institute website.
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In 2021, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said that right-wing extremism makes up 50 per cent of its priority caseload. Since that announcement, intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted a number of plots related to right-wing extremists in Australia. But this is not only an issue in Australia. There has been a 250 per cent increase in right-wing terrorism globally. So, what exactly is right-wing extremism and how is its potential for violence growing? Why is it a global problem? How does it threaten democracy and what should we do about it? Rise of the Extreme Right answers these questions.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick McKenzie, whose recent work includes a major investigation on Australian neo-Nazi groups, will launch the book. Lydia Khalil will also speak about her book and her experiences as a counter-terrorism specialist in the United States and Australia. Lydia and Nick will then take questions from our audience.
Lydia Khalil is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute and an Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University. She began her counter-terrorism and national security career after the September 11 attacks. She is a recognised expert on terrorism and extremism, having worked for the White House Office of Homeland Security, US Department of Defense, the New York Police Department, Boston Police Department and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a frequent media commentator and has been widely published.
Nick McKenzie is an award-winning investigative journalist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He has presented major investigations for the ABC's Four Corners and 7:30, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review. With almost 20 years' experience, his investigations span foreign affairs, defence and national security, corporate wrongdoing, politics, organised crime and corruption, the criminal justice system and social affairs. His work has sparked Royal Commissions and parliamentary inquiries, and prompted investigations in Australia, the United States and Britain into corruption and bribery.
Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program, will chair this event.
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On 2 September 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted a rare insight into the story of women in the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) from its Director-General, Rachel Noble. ASD is Australia’s foreign signals intelligence, cyber security, and offensive cyber operations agency. At this in-person event, the Director-General shared her experiences as a woman in a male dominated career and her thoughts on what leaders and managers can do to help to continue breaking down barriers for women. Following her speech, the Director-General spoke in conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove and took questions from the audience.
Rachel Noble PSM is the Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate. Prior to her appointment, she was the Head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre in the Australian Signals Directorate. Rachel has held senior roles in the Department of Home Affairs, Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and Department of Defence. Rachel was formerly National Security Chief Information Officer and Cyber Policy Coordinator in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, a role in which she received a Public Service Medal for her work.
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In this episode of the Aus-PNG Network Leadership Series, Mihai Sora speaks to Andrew Kuliniasi, award-winning playwright and Drama Director at the Moresby Arts Theatre, about how the dramatic arts engage with important social issues in Papua New Guinea.
Andrew tells Mihai about his own work, “Looking at the past informs the future…Meisoga as a play was about a sixteen-year-old girl that had to become the head of her clan, that had to become the matriarch. And I looked at that and I went, wow, this is a story that can inspire other women. And I remember having the lead actress at the time, who is mousy and shy, just become a lion on stage.”
“PNG is such a beautiful country,” says Andrew. “And it’s rich with so many stories and…social issues that happen, and the stories that come from that…may be hard and gritty and tough to swallow, or maybe even beautiful and amazing and triumphant. And I want to be able to show truth and build the industry here. If I’m not going to do it, who is? I can only be the change that I want.”
Andrew Kuliniasi is a playwright and Drama Director at the Moresby Arts Theatre, and Creative Director to PNG Fashion Week. Andrew’s works include Meisoga, He is Victor and his latest production, For My Father, premiering on September 1st.
Mihai Sora is the Project Director of the Australia-Papua New Guinea Network at the Lowy Institute. Mihai’s research focuses on Australian foreign policy in the Pacific, Australia-PNG relations, and geopolitics in the region. Mihai has more than a decade’s experience as an Australian diplomat with postings to Solomon Islands and Indonesia, and was a Pacific Analyst at the Office of National Assessments.
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Ben Scott talks to Maria Rost Rublee, an Associate Professor of Politics & International Relations at Monash University, and Alan Kuperman, an Associate Professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, about Australia's plan to acquire nuclear powered submarines, and what that means for nuclear non-proliferation.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Zhiqun Zhu to explore and assess some of China’s major foreign policy initiatives and priorities over the last five years. They discuss the driving forces behind these initiatives, including President Xi Jinping himself, and the major institutions that shape China’s foreign policy, namely the Chinese state, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people. Zhiqun Zhu is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University, USA. He is currently a US Fulbright Scholar at Griffith University, Australia. He is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including A Critical Decade: China’s Foreign Policy 2008–2018 (World Scientific, 2019). He is a member of the National Committee on United States–China Relations and is frequently quoted by international media on Chinese and East Asian affairs.
In this episode of Conversations, Susannah Patton talks to Greg Poling, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) about his new book, On Dangerous Ground: America’s Century in the South China Sea. The United States has strong interests in the South China Sea, including maintaining the freedom of the seas and supporting its regional allies and partners, especially the Philippines. How can the United States protect these interests and prevent China from making further gains in the South China Sea? And how would the situation in the South China Sea be affected by a further escalation in US-China tensions over Taiwan?
Xi Jinping is one of the world’s most powerful leaders and will remain so for many more years if, as expected, he secures a third term as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the forthcoming 20th National Congress of the CCP. Despite being in power for close to a decade, he is also a man that remains a mystery to much of the world. Dr Joseph Torigian, one of the premier scholars of the Chinese leader and elite politics, discusses Xi’s early years and rise to power and what that reveals about the Chinese leader’s worldview and agenda. The event was moderated by Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute's Senior Fellow for East Asia.
Recorded on 26 July 2022
Half of all Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas, and Australia is home to more than 250 ancestries and 350 languages. The new Labor government has invoked Australia’s multiculturalism as a part of our national identity in its recent engagement with the region. But what is the role of Australia’s multiculturalism in foreign policy? Are diversity and diasporas a source of soft power and engagement? Our panel examined how Australia’s multiculturalism can inform foreign policymaking chaired by Dr Jennifer Hsu, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program.
Panel guests include:
Dr Melissa Phillips is a Lecturer in Humanitarian and Development Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. She has previously worked for the United Nations and international NGOs in South Sudan, North Africa, and the Middle East, and recently co-edited Understanding Diaspora Development: Lessons from Australia and the Pacific.
Jason Chai is the Director of Market Access and Government Affairs for Cochlear Asia-Pacific. He is a former Australian diplomat and has worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as at senior government levels, including as a Chief of Staff to a Victorian Minister of Trade and Investment.
Alfred Deakin Professor Fethi Mansouri holds a research chair in Migration and Intercultural Studies and the UNESCO Chair for comparative research on cultural diversity and social justice. He is the founding Director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University. He is the editor of the Journal of Intercultural Studies and since 2010 has served as an expert adviser to the United Nations on cultural diversity and intercultural relations.
Recorded on 10 Aug 2022
Lowy Institute researchers unpacked the findings of the 2022 Lowy Institute Poll in Canberra. How has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed Australian attitudes? What do the public think about China and the new Australian government? How are Australians responding to the contested nature of our region?
The annual Lowy Institute Poll has tracked Australian attitudes to the world for 18 years and uncovered fascinating shifts in public opinion on Australia’s place in the world. Australians have diverse attitudes to a range of key foreign policy issues, including Australia’s alliance with the United States, immigration in the time of a pandemic, and the rise of authoritarianism.
There has been increasing concern that Russia and China are using state-owned media companies, social media campaigns and proxy actors to manipulate public discourse in the global south.
In this episode, Sasha Fegan discusses the influence of disinformation in the media landscape in Africa.
Her guests will talk about how Russia and China calibrate their messaging to different nation states, and how Chinese state-owned media in Africa is replicating and reinforcing Russian narratives around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Idayat Hassan, is a lawyer, development expert and director of the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria.
Dani Madrid-Morales, is a lecturer in the Department of Journalism Studies at The University of Sheffield. He is an expert on Africa-China mediated relations, particularly in Kenya and South Africa. His latest book is Disinformation in the Global South.
On 21 July 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted the launch of 'The Consul', written by Nonresident Fellow Ian Kemish. The book was launched by Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Tim Watts MP, with a conversation afterwards between Ian Kemish and Natasha Kassam, Director of the Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy program.
How have world events shaped the way we travel now and what does future travel look like? What should we expect of our government when we are overseas? Where does personal responsibility begin and end? Is Australia’s consular service adequately resourced?
Since 2000, there has been extraordinary growth in the demands on the Australian consular service — the men and women who step forward to support their fellow Australians when they experience serious difficulty overseas. Australia’s consular officers are often on the frontline of major international crises — from natural disasters to terrorist attacks, evacuations from war zones, to a global pandemic.
Ian Kemish AM served as Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ambassador to Germany, led the Prime Minister’s International Division, and headed Australia’s consular service in a diplomatic career that spanned 25 years. He was awarded membership of the Order of Australia for his leadership of Australia’s response to the 2002 Bali bombings. He is a Nonresident Fellow with the Lowy Institute, an Adjunct Professor in history at the University of Queensland, a Director of the Australia–Indonesia Centre and an Honorary Fellow of Deakin University.
Hon Tim Watts MP, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs is the Federal Member for Gellibrand in Melbourne’s west. Before entering Parliament, he worked in the technology sector, as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Minister for Communications and a Senior Adviser to the Victorian Premier. Since being elected in 2013, Tim has served in a range of roles including as the Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Communications. During his time in Parliament, he has been an active participant in a range of youth and track 1.5 dialogues including with Indonesia, China, India and the United States.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu speaks with Jessica Teets about policy experimentation and diffusion at the local level in China, and the consequences for civil society. Jennifer and Jessica discuss local-level policy innovations that have taken place in the past five years, and also where space for experimentation has shrunk. They talk about what the Communist Party’s upcoming National Congress might mean for understanding long-term trends in policymaking in China.
Jessica Teets is a Professor at Middlebury College, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Political Science. Her research focuses on governance in authoritarian regimes, especially the role of civic participation. She is the author of Civil Society Under Authoritarianism: The China Model (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Jessica is currently co-authoring a new book manuscript on changing governance under Xi Jinping. She has a forthcoming co-edited volume developing a theory of how to lobby dictators.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Natasha Kassam, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, discusses Taiwan-Australia relations with Dr Chen Jie, Dr Sophie McIntyre and Dr Roger Huang. They discuss the emphasis on democracy for both Taiwan and Australia, the potential for more cultural and indigenous diplomacy, and the role that United States and China play in shaping Australia-Taiwan relations.
Dr Chen Jie is an Associate Professor in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia.
Dr Sophie McIntyre is a Senior Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and an established art curator.
Dr Roger Huang is a Lecturer in Terrorism and Political Violence at Macquarie University.
Aus-PNG Network Leadership Series: Music in PNG
In this episode, Mihai Sora is joined by Allen Kedea, also known by his stage name AKay47, to discuss the music scene in Papua New Guinea, and the role that music can play in empowering young people and building stronger connections between Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Papua New Guinea has lot of natural resources, but there is growing recognition from government leaders and in the community that the creative economy also needs to be developed.
“I think music is at the forefront of that,” says Allen. In Papua New Guinea, “everything we do incorporates music culturally, traditionally, it’s a part of a person from the moment you’re born, to when you attend funerals, marriages, when someone’s out gardening or fishing, it’s just a natural part of us…music is an extension of Papua New Guineans.”
Allen says, “I would just encourage our young people to use what’s there, the technology is there…Appreciate where you come from, tell the story that you that you can tell from your own little village, from your own island, because I believe that the world is looking for those unique stories. Now.”
Allen Kedea, also known by his stage name AKay47, is a DJ, artist, producer, record label owner, music judge, creative in the advertising realm, crypto enthusiast and emerging leader. With over 20 years experience in the music industry Allen has helped setup the Central Music Association in Papua New Guinea as the Interim President and is about to launch a new music streaming service in PNG.
Mihai Sora is the Project Director of the Australia-Papua New Guinea Network at the Lowy Institute. Mihai’s research focuses on Australian foreign policy in the Pacific, Australia-PNG relations, and geopolitics in the region. Mihai has more than a decade’s experience as an Australian diplomat with postings to Solomon Islands and Indonesia, and was a Pacific Analyst at the Office of National Assessments.
On 7 July 2022, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, gave an address at the Lowy Institute in Sydney titled A Pacific Springboard to Engage the World: New Zealand's Independent Foreign Policy.
Video of event available here - https://youtu.be/gK785x4jEDk
Join the Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu, as he talks to the Institute’s head of polling, Natasha Kassam, about the 2022 Lowy Institute Poll and what Australians think about Russia, China and the threat of conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Natasha shares the process of developing the flagship Lowy Institute Poll over the past 18 years, why Australians are feeling unsafe and their thoughts about democratic systems of government in an election year.
Join the Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, Sam Roggeveen, as he talks with economist and political scientist Chris Blattman about his latest book, Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. Chis talks about the human propensity to violence, whether certain types of governments are more likely to go to war, and the unique perspective that an economist can bring to this subject.
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Sasha Fegan talks to Carl Miller about online manipulation, disinformation, misinformation and inauthentic behaviour. We know it is proliferating, and we know it has a corrosive impact on trust and democratic institutions. But are liberal democracies responding in the right ways? Is the solution technical? Educational? Or is it legislative? Carl Miller is the Research Director at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at UK think tank Demos.
Sasha Fegan is a Research Associate in the Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project at the Lowy Institute.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is becoming increasingly important to Indian, Japanese, Australian and American efforts to balance Chinese power and extend the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic importance to Australia was underscored this May when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the Quad leaders’ meeting in Tokyo his first foreign engagement as Prime Minister.
At this special event, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove discussed the Quad’s evolving role with leading thinkers from two other Quad countries:
Dr Samir Saran, President of India’s Observer Research Foundation. Dr Saran curates the Raisina Dialogue, India’s annual flagship platform on geopolitics and geo-economics, and is the founder of CyFy, India’s annual conference on cybersecurity and internet governance. Samir has authored four books, including The New World Disorder and the Indian Imperative with Shashi Tharoor, and Pax Sinica: Implications for the Indian Dawn with Akhil Deo.
Dr Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Dr Schake was the Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She has also taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland.
Recorded on 17 June 2022
Moscow’s escalating confrontation with the West means that Russia is now more reliant on China, geopolitically and economically, than at any time in the two countries’ history. What are the implications arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the most serious conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War? What impact will the war in Ukraine’s have on the evolution of the Sino-Russian partnership, which has assumed pivotal importance — not just for the outcome of the war, but for the future of global order?
On 1 June 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted an event at the National Press Club of Australia with Dr Bobo Lo, Nonresident Fellow to discuss his new Lowy Institute Analysis Paper Turning point? Putin, Xi and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The event was hosted by Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute.
Dr Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow with the Lowy Institute and is an independent analyst on global affairs. He is an Associate Research Fellow with the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and has written extensively on Russian foreign and security policy, with a particular focus on Sino-Russian relations. Dr Lo is a former diplomat and served as Deputy Head of Mission at Australia’s Embassy in Moscow. He is the author of Russia and the New World Disorder, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Pushkin House Prize and was described by The Economist as the ‘best attempt yet to explain Russia’s unhappy relationship with the rest of the world’. His most recent book is A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia relationship means for the world. He holds an MA from Oxford and a PhD from Melbourne University.
Read Bobo Lo's full paper here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/turning-point-putin-xi-and-russian-invasion-ukraine
This is a special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, in which the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in PNG.
In this fifth and final episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Dame Carol Kidu, about the discrimination and disadvantage experienced by indigenous Papua New Guinean women as they seek to get elected.
Carol is one of seven women who served in PNG’s National Parliament. She also managed to get re-elected twice, despite half of all politicians losing their seat at every election.
Carol’s tenure as a politician is remarkable, but she said her husband’s legacy and her European background helped secure ongoing community support. She often heard from her community, “We don’t mind you being here, but we don’t want our own women here [in parliament].”
Carol talks us through the issues that are increasingly disadvantaging women during campaigns, such as bloc voting and tribal intimidation, campaign or cell houses, violence, and financial barriers. But she offers a silver lining: “PNG is a nation based on relationships, and if you can nurture relationships, that will get you into politics.”
Join Jessica and Carol as they talk through why women getting elected is critical to PNG’s development, and as she shares her views on what women need to do to get over the line at the upcoming election.
Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program and Aus-PNG Network at the Lowy Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, Jessica completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Queensland University of Technology. Jessica also holds a Master of Global Development from Griffith University. Her Honours research project, completed at the Queensland University of Technology, explored diasporic life for Samoans living in Brisbane, and her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney focused on the anthropology of the Pacific.
Dame Carol Kidu served in Papua New Guinea’s National Parliament for three terms (1997-2012). Between 2002 and 2012, Dame Carol was the only female in Parliament. She served as Minister for Community Development, and as Opposition Leader for her last five months in office. Dame Carol is now supporting other women to get elected to its all-men parliament.
In this episode of Conversations, Lowy Institute Research Director Hervé Lemahieu talks to Gabriele Visentin, EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific, and Susannah Patton, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Power and Diplomacy Program, about the European Union's Indo-Pacific Strategy.
How will Canberra’s burgeoning regional collaboration with Brussels and individual European capitals change in the wake of AUKUS, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a change of government in Australia?
More detail: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/conversations-europe-and-australia-indo-pacific
Moscow’s escalating confrontation with the West means that Russia is now more reliant on China, geopolitically and economically, than at any time in the two countries’ history. What are the implications arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the most serious conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War? What impact will the war in Ukraine’s have on the evolution of the Sino-Russian partnership, which has assumed pivotal importance — not just for the outcome of the war, but for the future of global order?
On 26 May 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted this event with Dr Bobo Lo, Nonresident Fellow to mark the launch of his Lowy Institute Analysis Paper Turning point? Putin, Xi and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dr Lo’s address was followed by a conversation with Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research of the Lowy Institute and audience questions.
Dr Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow with the Lowy Institute and is an independent analyst on global affairs. He is an Associate Research Fellow with the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and has written extensively on Russian foreign and security policy, with a particular focus on Sino-Russian relations. Dr Lo is a former diplomat and served as Deputy Head of Mission at Australia’s Embassy in Moscow. He is the author of Russia and the New World Disorder, which was shortlisted for the 2016 Pushkin House Prize and was described by The Economist as the ‘best attempt yet to explain Russia’s unhappy relationship with the rest of the world’. His most recent book is A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia relationship means for the world. He holds an MA from Oxford and a PhD from Melbourne University.
Read the full paper: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/turning-point-putin-xi-and-russian-invasion-ukraine
Event video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPMRHp-XUq0
Recorded on 26 May 2022
This is a special Women in Politics series for the Australia–PNG Network in which the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in PNG.
In this fourth episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Tania Bale, an urban candidate seeking election to PNG’s National Parliament. Tania shares her views on the challenges of standing for election, including the difficulties of campaigning in rural settings and how “obscene” amounts of money is spent in cash handouts to gain voters’ support.
Tania is one of the few women endorsed by a political party and says her endorsement for a national capital district (NCD) seat, along with three other female party colleagues endorsed for the remaining NCD seats, is unprecedented and historic.
Tania’s view is that the endorsements will resonate for years to come and that they send a powerful message to the citizenry of PNG. Yet regardless of endorsements, Tania believes her electorate is ready to elect women to the currently all-male parliament — a silver lining for women who are trying to represent their communities.
Join Jessica and Tania as they talk through the challenges of getting elected, including Australia’s role in supporting “home grown” programs that reflect PNG’s unique characteristics.
Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program and Aus–PNG Network at the Lowy Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, Jessica completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Queensland University of Technology. Jessica also holds a Master of Global Development from Griffith University. Her Honours research project, completed at the Queensland University of Technology, explored diasporic life for Samoans living in Brisbane, and her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney focused on the anthropology of the Pacific.
Tania Bale is a prominent television presenter, journalist and a fervent advocate for social justice, equity, equality and the empowerment of women and youth in Papua New Guinea. She is a vocal champion for the arts, music, culture and the environment. She is also an urban candidate in the upcoming PNG national election.
In this episode of Conversations, Susannah Patton talks to Charmaine Willoughby, Assistant Professor at De La Salle University in Manila, about the foreign policy implications of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s election as president of the Philippines. The Philippines is a US treaty ally in Asia, but under the outgoing President Duterte, these ties were put to the test, with his administration keen to attract Chinese investment and downplay the South China Sea dispute. How will an incoming Marcos Jr administration handle its ties with the superpowers, and what should countries such as Australia be aware of when engaging the next administration?
US National Cyber Director Chris Inglis addressed the Lowy Institute on the role of cyber in US strategy and the outlook for international cyber cooperation to build resilience and counter threats. Afterwards, he spoke in conversation with Research Fellow Ben Scott, the Director of the Australia's Security and the Rules Based Order Project at the Institute.
Recorded on Wednesday 11 May 2022
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, ASIS Director-General Paul Symon addressed the Lowy Institute on the past, present and future of foreign espionage from an Australian perspective. After the speech, Mr Symon spoke in conversation with Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
Paul Symon’s military career spanned 35 years and culminated in the rank of Major General. He served as the Deputy Chief of the Australian Army from late 2008 until 2011, and from 2011–14 was Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation. In mid-2015, Paul left the military and joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was appointed Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service on 18 December 2017.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/foreign-espionage-australian-perspective
This is a special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, in which the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in the country.
In this third episode, Jessica speaks with Damarise Bonga, a female candidate in the upcoming 2022 national election. Damarise shares her experience of running unsuccessfully in a prior election, and talks about the broader challenges for women trying to represent their communities in parliament. She says a fundamental issue lies in how people (both men and women) perceive leadership in PNG, and how this continues to be a significant barrier to balanced representation in the country.
“In politics, in PNG it’s quite different … They think that the Parliament is … hausman in Tok Pisin, meaning that it’s a house for man. And that’s kind of bias, you know.”
Join Jessica and Damarise as they talk about how women can be more successful in future elections, including Damarise’s views on all-women political parties and decentralising women’s political leadership development programs.
Damarise Bonga is planning to contest Papua New Guinea’s upcoming national election. Damarise recently graduated from Papua New Guinea’s Political Leadership Academy for Women in Port Moresby as one of many students in its first cohort. She also served as the appointed women's representative to the Oro Provincial Assembly and supported the PNG Special Parliamentary Committee on their public sector reform and service delivery programs.
Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program and Aus-PNG Network at the Lowy Institute. Her research interests cover foreign aid and development policy in Pacific Island nations (particularly for Pacific women), Pacific migration, remittance policy, and Myanmar’s humanitarian and refugee challenges. Prior to joining the Institute, Jessica completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Queensland University of Technology. Jessica also holds a Master of Global Development from Griffith University. Her Honours research project, completed at the Queensland University of Technology, explored diasporic life for Samoans living in Brisbane, and her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney focused on the anthropology of the Pacific.
Read more: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/aus-png-network-women-politics-png-damarise-bonga
The Solomon Islands – China security pact has sent shockwaves across the Western world, with analysts from Australia to the United States arguing that the deal represents a fundamental shift in geopolitical dynamics in Australia’s immediate region. But what does the agreement mean for Solomon Islands and the Pacific? What impact will it have on Australia’s interests in Solomon Islands? And what does it signal for the future and stability of the Pacific region? Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, chaired this discussion between three experts on the issue.
Dorothy Wickham is a highly experienced media and communications specialist with an in depth understanding of Pacific islands politics, cultures and effective communication practices. Dorothy was a longstanding host of what was RAMSI’s national radio talkback program Talking Truth and Managing Editor of One News Television, founding editor of social media site Melanesia News Network, and coordinator of Cchange – Solomon Islands. Dorothy is a trusted voice in Solomon Islands and the Pacific.
James Batley is a Distinguished Policy Fellow in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University in Canberra. He joined Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs in 1984. In the early part of his career he was posted to Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. From 1997-1999 he was Australia’s High Commissioner to Solomon Islands. From 1999-2002 he was the head of Australia’s diplomatic mission in East Timor, becoming Australia’s first Ambassador following that country’s independence in 2002. From 2004-2006 he served as the leader of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) and from 2007-2009 he was Australian High Commissioner to Fiji (and Permanent Representative to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat). In Canberra Mr Batley worked in a range of senior positions including Deputy Director-General of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Graeme Smith is a fellow at the Australian National University’s Department of Pacific Affairs. He was awarded his PhD in 2008 for work that explored the motivations of China’s local officials as they attempted to implement an agricultural extension program in rural Anhui. His current research explores China’s investment, migration, military engagement, technology and aid in the Asia Pacific, with projects in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Timor Leste, Thailand and Vietnam. He has a particular focus on how Chinese infrastructure contractors adapt to and influence the business and political environment in Pacific Island states. He has an emerging research stream on the geopolitics of PRC private Internet companies as they look to invest in the region, including TenCent’s role in the Australian election, Baidu’s efforts to expand into Southeast Asia and Huawei and ZTE’s lobbying efforts in the Pacific. Graeme teaches The Politics of China in the Coral Bell School and hosts The Little Red Podcast with former NPR and BBC journalist Louisa Lim.
This event was broadcast on Thursday 5 May 2022.
The May 21 election has been branded by some commentators as a ‘khaki election’, one in which national security and foreign policy issues will be pivotal in deciding the result. The Coalition government has questioned the ability of the Labor Party to manage increasingly tense relations with China, and its commitment to higher defence spending. But do national security issues sway votes in Australia, and in what circumstances? And how do voters see the relative strengths of the two parties on national security? Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia, chaired this discussion between three experts on the issue.
Brian Loughnane, Federal Director of the Liberal Party for 13 years from 2003, is one of Australia’s most experienced political campaigners. An adviser to federal and state government ministers, he ran four federal campaigns for the Liberal Party. He is also tied into global networks as Deputy Chairman of the International Democrat Union, an alliance of centre-right political parties.
Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia’s foremost researchers and authors on social trends. She has led research at Essential Media and Vox Populi and was a director at Ipsos Australia. She now heads her own research and consultancy firm working with climate and environment NGOs, government and business on climate change strategy and communication. Rebecca was a broadcaster with the ABC and is on the Executive Board of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party.
Tony Mitchelmore, the founder of Visibility, a leading strategic communications firm, is a veteran of 12 state and federal elections. He has also advised state and federal political leaders of both major parties on research, messaging and communications.
The event was broadcast on YouTube at 12pm AEST on Thursday 5 May 2022.
In this episode of Conversations, Jennifer Hsu talks with Natasha Kassam and Richard McGregor about the results of the Being Chinese in Australia survey report. The second Lowy Institute’s Being Chinese in Australia poll, published in April 2022, finds a diverse range of experiences and perspectives across Chinese-Australian communities on topics such as political participation, security and foreign policy and Australia-China relations. How has the deterioration in bilateral ties affected Chinese-Australians, and is the relationship shaping Australia’s federal election campaign narratives? What might Chinese-Australians expect post-election in terms of Australia’s China policy?
When he became Prime Minister in 2018, Scott Morrison was a foreign policy amateur confronted by unprecedented challenges: an assertive Beijing and a looming rivalry between the two biggest economies in world history, the United States and China. Morrison plunged into foreign and security policy by making highly contentious changes that will be felt for decades, not least the historic decision to build nuclear-powered submarines. Now his vision for Australia’s place in the world is about to be judged by the Australian electorate, and compared to that of Labor’s Anthony Albanese.
On Tuesday 26 April 2022, the Institute hosted the Melbourne launch of the new Lowy Institute Paper Morrison's Mission by eminent journalist and political commentator, Paul Kelly. Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine, The Interpreter, Daniel Flitton, chaired the conversation, which included questions from the audience.
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large for The Australian. He has covered Australian governments from Gough Whitlam to Scott Morrison. He is the author of many books including The End of Certainty on the politics and economics of the 1980s, and the Lowy Institute Paper Howard’s Decade.
Recorded on 26th April 2022
In this special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea in the lead-up to its national election.
In this second episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Vagi Hemetsberger, co-founder of the Seven Sisters Foundation, which aims to provide long-term support to women seeking office in Papua New Guinea. They discuss what help Papua New Guinean women need to get elected, and how issues such as money politics and security put them at a significant disadvantage.
Vagi argues that partnering is vital if women are to improve their political representation in Papua New Guinea. “We want our men and women to … be a part of the solution”, but, she adds, women’s civil groups and policymakers also need to work strategically and collaboratively, “because we’re stronger together”.
Join Jessica and Vagi as they take you through these issues and present ideas on how to change the nature of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea.
Vagi Hemetsberger is co-founder of the Seven Sisters Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation supporting female leaders in Papua New Guinea. The Seven Sisters Foundation aims to improve equality for women through resource support, upskilling and advocacy.
Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute. Her research interests cover foreign aid and development policy in Pacific Island nations (particularly for Pacific women), Pacific migration, remittance policy, and Myanmar’s humanitarian and refugee challenges. Prior to joining the Institute, Jessica completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Queensland University of Technology. Jessica also holds a Master of Global Development from Griffith University. Her Honours research project, completed at the Queensland University of Technology, explored diasporic life for Samoans living in Brisbane, and her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney focused on the anthropology of the Pacific.
Find our more about this episode: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/aus-png-network-women-politics-png-vagi-hemetsberger
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, journalist and biographer Troy Bramston speaks to Lowy Institute Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu about the foreign policy of Bob Hawke. In 1983, Australia elected a government quite unlike any it had seen before led by the charismatic former union leader Bob Hawke. In office, Hawke formed close personal relationships with some unlikely international partners – the US Republican President Ronald Reagan, the UK Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. Along the way, Hawke's government tackled international trade reform, oversaw an overhaul in relations with China and led the way in regional institution building. Does Hawke’s foreign policy legacy still have relevance for Australia today? Or is it a foreign policy tradition from a bygone era?
Troy Bramston is a senior writer and columnist with The Australian newspaper, for which he has written since 2011. He was previously a columnist with the Sunday Telegraph. Troy is the author or editor of ten books, including Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics (2019) and Paul Keating: The Big-Picture Leader (2016). Troy co-authored The Truth of the Palace Letters (2020) and The Dismissal (2015) with Paul Kelly. He was the co-winner of the Australian Book Industry Award for The Dismissal. His biography of Paul Keating was a finalist for the Walkley Award, shortlisted for the National Biography Award and longlisted for the Australian Book Industry Award. He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.
More about this episode: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/conversations-foreign-policy-and-hawke-legacy
In April 2022, the Lowy Institute launched a new opinion poll on Indonesian attitudes to the world and foreign policy. The poll offers unique and fascinating insights into how the citizens of one of Asia’s most important rising nations perceive their neighbours, US-China competition, the major threats facing Indonesia, and Indonesia’s position in this increasingly contested world. It has been a decade since the Institute last surveyed Indonesian public opinion.
To discuss the poll and its findings, the Institute hosted an online panel event which was chaired by Natasha Kassam, Director of the Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, alongside Ben Bland, Director of the Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, Dr Evan Laksmana, a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and Dr Lina A. Alexandra, Head of the Department of International Relations at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
View the poll data and analysis here: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/indonesia-poll-2021/
Event recorded on Thursday 8 April 2022
In this special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea in the lead-up to its national election.
In this first episode, Jessica speaks with Theresa Meki – an expert in Papua New Guinean women’s political representation – about the experience for women trying to enter politics in the country, where no women are currently serving in the national parliament. They discuss the realities and challenges of campaigning, including how vote-buying and clientelism, traditional obligations, reciprocity, patriarchalism and legacy candidates contribute to the uneven playing field for female candidates.
Theresa tells Jessica there have been years wasted in between elections to work on the problem. “We only talk about women when it's election time … And I think that's the issue. There was a whole five years that more things could have been done.”
Join Jessica and Theresa as they take you through these issues and present ideas on how to change the nature of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea.
Theresa Meki is a PhD Candidate with the Department of Pacific Affairs, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on women’s presence and vote share in Papua New Guinea’s election history. Prior to commencing her candidature, Theresa worked as a field producer and research assistant for the DFAT funded Pawa Meri film project, a partnership between the Victoria University, Melbourne and the University of Goroka in Papua New Guinea.
Jessica Collins is a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute. Her research interests cover foreign aid and development policy in Pacific Island nations (particularly for Pacific women), Pacific migration, remittance policy, and Myanmar’s humanitarian and refugee challenges. Prior to joining the Institute, Jessica completed a PhD in Anthropology at the Queensland University of Technology. Jessica also holds a Master of Global Development from Griffith University. Her Honours research project, completed at the Queensland University of Technology, explored diasporic life for Samoans living in Brisbane, and her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney focused on the anthropology of the Pacific.
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott discusses the war in Ukraine and international law with Professor Fleur Johns and Dr Eve Massingham. They talk about the laws of war, economic sanctions, cyber operations, neutrality, international humanitarian law, and war crimes.
Professor Fleur Johns is Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and Visiting Professor at the University of Gothenburg Sweden. She is the author of four books and her fifth, #Help: The Digital Transformation of Humanitarianism and the Remaking of Global Order, will be published this year by Oxford University Press.
Dr Eve Massingham is a Senior Research Fellow with the School of Law at The University of Queensland where she focuses on how the law constrains and enables autonomous functions of military platforms, systems and weapons. She has also worked for the International Red Cross and served as an Australian Army Reserve Officer. Dr Massingham is the co-editor of Ensuring Respect for International Humanitarian Law (Routledge, 2020).
Read more about this episode at https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/rules-based-audio-ukraine-and-future-rules-based-order
The United Nations’ declaration of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) raises a critical issue: Indigenous languages are in an endangered state. The UN’s declaration is hoped to spur preservation and promotion of them and curb the tide of extinction.
Papua New Guinea holds more Indigenous languages than anywhere else in the world. Current estimates of its living languages are between 830 to over 850, but that number is in steady decline as Papua New Guinea’s communities become more mobile and interconnected. Yet, while extinction to local languages remains a severe problem in Papua New Guinea, in 2020, a new language was added to its list – and there’s potential for more.
Jessica Collins, the Lowy Institute’s Research Fellow for the Aus-PNG Network and Pacific Islands Program, talks with four experts about language, diversity, and cultural identity in Papua New Guinea. The panel includes Dr Kilala Devette-Chee, Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader of the Education Research Program at the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute; Dr Sakarepe Kamene, Head of Linguistics and Modern Languages at the University of Papua New Guinea; Adjunct Professor Craig Volker, of The Cairns Institute, James Cook University; and Dr. Lidia Federica Mazzitelli, post-doctoral researcher at the Slavic Institute, University of Cologne and scientific consultant at the Australian National University.
Australians will go to a federal election in a few months’ time. A fraught international environment is challenging the old rule that Australians do not vote on foreign policy questions. How will global issues — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s icy relations with Australia, climate change, the pandemic, and headwinds in the global economic recovery — influence the course of the election campaign?
On Tuesday 22 March 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted a discussion event in Canberra to examine foreign policy and national security in this election year. The panel was chaired by Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu and featured Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor, Director of the International Security Program Sam Roggeveen and Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program Susannah Patton.
Recorded Tuesday 22 March 2022 at the National Press Club, Canberra.
Australians will go to a federal election in a few months’ time. A fraught international environment is challenging the old rule that Australians do not vote on foreign policy questions. How will global issues — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s icy relations with Australia, climate change, the pandemic, and headwinds in the global economic recovery — influence the course of the election campaign?
On Monday 21 March 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted this discussion event to examine foreign policy and national security in this election year. The panel was chaired by Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu and featured Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor, West Asia Program Research Fellow Lydia Khalil, the Director of the Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order project Ben Scott, and the Director of La Trobe Asia Bec Strating.
Recorded Monday 21 March 2022 at State Library Victoria.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans speaks to Executive Director Michael Fullilove about his new book Good International Citizenship: The case for decency. He argues that being, and being seen to be, a good international citizen is in a country's national interest. He sets out four benchmarks by which a country's performance can be judged: its foreign aid generosity, its response to human rights violations, its reaction to violence and mass atrocities, and its contribution to dealing with complex global issues such as nuclear proliferation and climate change.
The Hon Gareth Evans AC QC was a Cabinet minister throughout the Hawke–Keating governments and served as foreign minister from 1988 to 1996. He was president of the International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009, and Chancellor of the Australian National University from 2010 to 2019. He was co-chair of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty and the Australia–Japan International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. He has written or edited thirteen books, most recently Incorrigible Optimist: A Political Memoir.
More about this episode here: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/conversations-gareth-evans-good-international-citizenship
Whether Australia leases, buys or builds nuclear-fuelled submarines as part of the AUKUS pact with the United Kingdom and the United States, it will be the first non-nuclear state to do so. How nuclear non-proliferation issues are addressed by these three countries is not the sole test of AUKUS, but it will form an important part of managing its future trajectory and global reception.
On 14 March 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted Dr Alan J. Kuperman, Associate Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Texas for a discussion with Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research. They discussed the implications of AUKUS for the nuclear non-proliferation regime and how the current negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna aim to mitigate any proliferation risks stemming from AUKUS.
Dr Alan J. Kuperman is Associate Professor of Public Affairs and founding coordinator of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. He was previously Senior Policy Analyst for the nongovernmental Nuclear Control Institute, and Legislative Director for Rep. Charles Schumer in the US Congress. He holds an AB in Physical Sciences from Harvard University, an MA in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has authored and edited books including Plutonium for Energy? Explaining the Global Decline of MOX (2018) and Nuclear Terrorism and Global Security: The Challenge of Phasing out Highly Enriched Uranium (2013).
On 10 March 2022, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese addressed the Lowy Institute on how a Labor government would deliver national security in a complex world.
Mr Albanese’s speech was followed by a Q&A session chaired by Dr Michael Fullilove AM, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP is the Leader of the Opposition. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy; and Leader of the House. He has represented the electorate of Grayndler in the federal Parliament since 1996.
See more about this event including a transcript: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/address-opposition-leader-anthony-albanese
From the brutal invasion to the imposition of crippling economic sanctions – where are we now? What are Putin’s goals? How is Europe responding? What should we read into China’s reaction, and what are the implications for the Indo-Pacific?
Natasha Kassam, Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute, hosted this conversation on International Women’s Day with Dr Olga Oleinikova, Zoya Sheftalovich and Dr Maria Repnikova.
Dr Olga Oleinikova is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. Zoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor at Politico and editor of Politico’s Brussels and London Playbooks. Dr Maria Repnikova is an Assistant Professor in Global Communication at Georgia State University and a Wilson Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Broadcast 8 March 2022
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/war-ukraine
On Monday 7 March 2022, Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed the Lowy Institute on the situation in Ukraine, the implications for the Indo-Pacific, and Australia's response. After the speech, Mr Morrison spoke in conversation with the Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove.
The Hon Scott Morrison MP is the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. He previously served as Treasurer, Minister for Social Services and Minister for Border Protection. He was first elected to Parliament as the Federal Member for Cook in 2007.
See more about this event at https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/address-prime-minister-scott-morrison
The Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to surprise Western analysts, many of whom thought President Vladimir Putin’s incendiary rhetoric and troop build-up along Ukraine’s border were a bluff.
In recent days the surprises have kept coming – despite Russia’s encirclement of Kyiv, its air and ground forces appear to have been far less successful than expected. Likewise, Russia’s much-feared skills in information operations have been no match for Ukraine’s deft control of the propaganda narrative. In turn, this has helped harden Western resolve against Russia and inspired Sweden and Finland to pursue NATO membership.
What is Putin’s endgame and how serious is his threat of nuclear escalation?
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Sasha Fegan speaks to Major General Mick Ryan about Russia’s military strategy in Ukraine, and his new book War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict.
There's been a significant escalation in the Ukraine crisis. The diplomatic pathway pursued by France and Germany - and backed up by the United States and Britain - was 'blown up' by a late-night televised address by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In this special edition of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Director Hervé Lemahieu speaks to Nonresident Fellow Bobo Lo about Russia's tactics and ambitions in Ukraine, and the West's options in response.
Recorded: Wednesday 23rd February 2022
When he emerged as Australia’s 30th Prime Minister in 2018, Scott Morrison was not known for his diplomatic credentials and had never made foreign policy a big feature of his political career. Yet he has presided over one of the most consequential periods in Australia’s international relations: from a recalibration of ties with China, Australia’s primary trade partner, to the announcement of the AUKUS agreement.
In this episode, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program Sam Roggeveen speaks to journalist and political commentator Paul Kelly about the factors and influences that have shaped Scott Morrison’s approach to foreign policy, which are detailed in Kelly’s new Lowy Institute Paper, Morrison’s Mission: How a Beginner Reshaped Australian foreign policy.
Paul Kelly is Editor-at-Large at The Australian. He writes on politics, public policy and international relations and is a former Editor-in-Chief at the paper. He has written or co-authored 12 books on Australian politics and history including The End of Certainty (1992) on the politics and economic reforms of the Hawke-Keating era, The March of Patriots (2009), offering a re-interpretation of the Keating and Howard prime ministerships, and Triumph and Demise (2014), an account of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era. Morrison’s Mission follows his 2006 book for the Lowy Institute on John Howard’s foreign policy, Howard’s Decade.
On Friday 21 January 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP. She was joined by Australia's Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon Marise Payne and Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM.
Our panel event to mark the release of the 2021 Asia Power Index. Launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018, this annual project measures resources and influence to rank the relative power of states in Asia. The 2021 edition, which covers four years of data, is the most comprehensive assessment so far of the changing distribution of power in the Indo-Pacific region. The principal researchers behind the project, Hervé Lemahieu and Alyssa Leng, was joined by Roland Rajah, the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist, to discuss the Index’s key findings:
Why the United States has registered the most substantial — albeit still modest — upswing in power of any country in the region.
What China’s losses across half of the Index’s measures of power in 2021 will mean for its trajectory to 2030 and beyond.
How the region is becoming more bipolar and less multipolar, and the difficulties this poses for Southeast Asian middle powers in particular.
Hervé Lemahieu is the Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, where he is responsible for the Institute’s team of experts and oversees its research output. Hervé leads the research for the annual Asia Power Index and authored the methodology to map the changing distribution of power in the region.
Alyssa Leng is a Research Fellow and Economist in the Power and Diplomacy Program and one of the principal researchers behind the Asia Power Index. Prior to joining the Institute, Alyssa worked on Australia’s economic policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic at the Australian Treasury.
Roland Rajah is Lead Economist and Director of the International Economics Program at the Lowy Institute. Before joining the Institute, Roland was a Senior Economist and Country Manager at the Asian Development Bank.
The event was chaired by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program.
An In conversation with Audrey Tang, who was appointed Taiwan’s first Digital Minister by President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016. Lowy Institute Director of Public Opinion Natasha Kassam spoke to Audrey Tang about their journey from an activist and civic hacker to a senior minister, and how digital democracy and innovation have helped Taiwan to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of disinformation and tensions with China.
Audrey Tang held positions across a range of technology companies and start-ups before becoming involved in politics during Taiwan’s 2014 Sunflower Movement, when Tang volunteered to help the protesters occupying Taiwanese parliament to broadcast their message. Tang was then invited to build a media literacy curriculum for Taiwan’s schools, and appointed Taiwan’s first digital minister in 2016. Tang has been a key figure in Taiwan’s pandemic response, and was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s 100 global thinkers in 2019.
Natasha Kassam is the Director of the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program, directing the annual Lowy Institute Poll and researching China’s politics, Taiwan, and Australia-China relations. She is also a Fellow of the ANU National Security College’s Futures Council and a member of the Advisory Board for the University of Melbourne’s Asian Law Centre. Prior to joining the Lowy Institute, Natasha was an Australian diplomat in China and Solomon Islands, and part of the drafting team for the Australian government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.
The White House Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell spoke to the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Michael Fullilove as part of the digital conference 'The Indo-Pacific Operating System'. Broadcast on 1 December 2021.
In this episode, Mihai Sora is joined by Ruth McDougall and Ruha Fifita to discuss the 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) showing at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane from 4 December. They discuss how Pacific art is a powerful vehicle for building and maintaining connections across communities, the uniquely collaborative nature of Pacific art, and how to reframe art as less of an ‘industry’ and more as a meaning-making cultural activity that delivers new learning for artists and their audiences. Mihai Sora is the Project Director of the Australia-Papua New Guinea Network at the Lowy Institute, Ruth McDougall is curator for Pacific art for APT10 and Ruha Fifita is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in the Kingdom of Tonga, who has exhibited throughout the Pacific and who has curated a number of projects for APT10.
Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the significant contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Mr Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.
The 2021 Owen Harries Lecture was given by former Australian Finance Minister and Secretary-General of the OECD Matthias Cormann. Mr Cormann will speak on “Levelling the playing field – an agenda for growth, climate and a rules-based international order”. His lecture was followed by a conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.
The Hon. Mathias Cormann is the 6th Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to his appointment, he served as the Australian Minister for Finance, Leader of the Government in the Senate, and as a Senator representing Western Australia.
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He writes widely on global affairs in publications such as The New York Times, Financial Times, The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs.
Recorded on November 24, 2021
In this episode, Lowy Institute lead economist Roland Rajah is joined by Dr Vijaya Ramachandran and Dr Sam Geall to discuss the outcomes from the COP26 Glasgow Climate Change Conference and deeper rifts in international climate policy and politics. They discuss whether COP26 succeeded in 'keeping 1.5 alive', and China's role in global climate efforts given geopolitical tensions with the US. They also discuss whether some Western governments are engaged in 'colonialism in green', whether India played a 'spoiler' role at the talks, and the huge unmet need for greater climate finance to help poor countries. They also talk about where opportunities might lie for future progress in global climate policy. Dr Vijaya Ramachandran is the Director for Energy and Development at the Breakthrough Institute. Dr Sam Geall is a research fellow at the University of Sussex and associate fellow at Chatham House.
The 2021 Lowy Lecture was delivered by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Mr Sullivan is one of the sharpest and most influential policymakers in the world and a trusted adviser to Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Mr Sullivan spoke on the Biden administration’s foreign and security policies in an era of pandemics, growing climate risk and competition with China and Russia. His Lowy Lecture was followed by an extended Q&A with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove.
The Lowy Lecture is the Lowy Institute’s flagship annual event, at which a prominent speaker reflects on Australia and the world. Past Lecturers have included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, author and broadcaster Fareed Zakaria, and three Australian prime ministers, including Scott Morrison.
Jake Sullivan is the National Security Adviser to US President Joe Biden. Mr Sullivan served as Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 election campaign, National Security Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2017, Mr Sullivan served as the Lowy Institute’s Distinguished International Fellow.
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He writes widely on global affairs in publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. Dr Fullilove is the author of several books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World (Penguin).
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Senator Penny Wong, the Shadow Foreign Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Penny was elected to the Senate in 2001 and was appointed to Shadow Cabinet in 2005. She served as Climate Change Minister between 2007 and 2010 and as Finance Minister between 2010 and 2013.
Michael and Penny discuss the politics of climate change in Australia, the AUKUS pact, and the findings of the Lowy Institute’s Diplomat Database. Penny reflects on her upbringing, Labor’s priorities for the region, and the current state of the Australia-China relationship.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament and women’s rights activist Fawzia Koofi joins Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil for a discussion on the heartbreak of leaving Afghanistan, the prospects for the country under Taliban rule, and the future of human rights in the country. Ms Koofi was previously a member of the Afghan delegation negotiating peace with the Taliban in Doha Qatar. This interview was originally scheduled in August 2021. However, Ms Koofi was placed under house arrest as the Taliban consolidated their hold over Kabul following the US military withdrawal from the country. It was not until she could negotiate her evacuation that she was able to speak.
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott talks to Professor Hilary Charlesworth. Professor Charlesworth is a distinguished international lawyer who has been nominated for election to the International Court of Justice. The election will take place at the United Nations in New York on 5 November. Professor Charlesworth has served as a judge ad hoc on the court twice before. She is a Laureate Professor at the Melbourne University Law School and a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University. In this conversation with Ben Scott, Professor Charlesworth discusses the role of the court and her candidacy.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the former Jordanian diplomat, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and think tank president Dr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. Zeid served as Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States, and served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights between 2014 and 2018. Zeid is the CEO and President of the International Peace Institute in New York and a professor of the practice of law and human rights at the University of Pennsylvania.
Zeid and Michael speak about global efforts to address climate change, the situation in Afghanistan, and China’s record on human rights. Zeid reflects on his time as High Commissioner and his lifelong association with the UN, and discusses what the pandemic reveals about the international community.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Fan Yang and Fergus Ryan about Fan’s recent paper for the Lowy Institute, titled “Translating Tensions: Chinese-Language Media in Australia”. The paper is one of the first to provide insight into the published content of Chinese-language media organisations in Australia as it relates to Australia-China relations.
Fan Yang is a PhD candidate at the School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University. She researches Chinese-language media on WeChat with a focus on human-technology mediation. Her doctoral thesis is entitled “News Manufactories on WeChat: The Word Business, Censorship and Pseudo-Journalism”. She has published in various outlets including Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, Policy Forum, Media International Australia,The Conversation, and others.
Fergus Ryan is a Senior Analyst with Australia Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre. He has worked in media, communications and marketing roles in China and Australia for close to a decade and has published widely on Chinese tech, entertainment and media industries. Most recently, Fergus was a journalist for The Australian.
The 2021 Lowy Institute Media Lecture was presented by Australian journalist Yalda Hakim.
Yalda Hakim is an international correspondent, broadcaster, presenter and documentary maker. She grew up in Australia, where her family had sought refuge after fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Currently host of BBC World News’ Impact with Yalda Hakim, she started her journalistic career at SBS News in Sydney as a cadet, rising to become a reporter and presenter on its international affairs program Dateline.
As well as pursuing a career in international journalism, which has seen her report on events from the United States to South Sudan, she has established a charitable foundation that supports women in Afghanistan to access education and university studies.
Follow the 2021 Lowy Institute Media Award at https://mediaaward.lowyinstitute.org
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the long-time public official, policymaker, and former President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick. Bob served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations. He is the author of America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy.
Bob and Michael talk about Xi Jinping’s China, the Biden administration, and the AUKUS pact. Bob reflects on his mentor James Baker, why he decided to go into public life, and comments on the current direction of the GOP.
Operation Ironside, led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) between 2018 and 2021, brought together law enforcement agencies from across Australia and around the world to make a significant dent in global organised crime. As a result, more than 224 arrests were made, 3.7 tonnes of drugs and almost $45 million in cash and assets were seized. An ingenious encrypted app called Anom gave law enforcement agencies a remarkable insight into the global and insidious threat posed by organised crime. Warwick Jones, AFP Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute, talks with Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan, the AFP’s commander of Operation Ironside, about the challenges and threats posed to national security by organised crime and how an operation like this is conducted.
The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered one of the most severe global economic shocks since the Great Depression. In the Pacific, as in the rest of the world, economic activity has collapsed as a result of lockdowns to contain the virus. Without a strong domestic and international response the Pacific faces the prospects of a lost decade of economic development.
Alexandre Dayant, Research Fellow and Project Director of Development Economics in Asia and the Pacific, discusses these issues, the response to date, and the economic support still needed, with a panel of Lowy Institute and regional experts. This event will coincide with the release of the fourth edition of the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map and will showcase the map’s new features and findings.
Recorded on 29 September 2021
Australia’s decision to cancel its French submarine contract in favour of partnering with the US and the UK on nuclear-powered boats has provoked local and international controversy. The decision has implications for US, Chinese, European and Southeast Asian diplomacy and defence policies. Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia, talks with three experts: Bilahari Kausikan, the former head of the Singapore Foreign Ministry, Yun Sun, of the Stimson Centre in Washington DC, and Nadège Rolland, of the National Bureau of Asia Research in the United States.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the distinguished Canadian historian and award-winning author, Professor Margaret MacMillan. Margaret has written a number of books including Peacemakers, Nixon in China, and The War that Ended Peace. She has been a history professor at Ryerson University, the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford, where she served for a decade as the Warden of St Antony’s College.
Margaret and Michael discuss how leaders should learn from history, the future of US-China relations, and the results of the recent Canadian election.
Margaret talks about how she approached the task of writing about her great-grandfather David Lloyd George, Western approaches to war, and the differences between Canada and Australia.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor speaks with Desmond Shum, the author of Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today’s China. Shum’s book has been acclaimed as a rare and revealing tell-all about how business is done at the top of the ruling communist party. Shum recounts his dealings with his business partner and former wife, Whitney Duan, and Zhang Beili, the wife of Wen Jiabao who was Premier – effectively number two in the party – from 2002 to 2012. Shum and Duan were divorced five years ago, and Whitney all but disappeared in 2017 after being detained in China. She had not been heard of until the book’s publication, when she called Shum out of the blue and asked that he withdraw it. The book was published in September. Shum now lives in the UK with his son.
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott talks to Professor Shirley Scott, Professor of International Law and International Relations at UNSW, Canberra. She is the immediate past president of the Asian Society of International Law and was the first Australian to hold that position. Shirley has pioneered an understanding of international law as ideology and is the author of many books as well as the influential 2018 essay, The Decline of International Law as a Normative Ideal. They discuss the complex relationships between the rules-based order, international law, power and ideology.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant speaks with Dr Julia Kim, the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan. The country has developed the concept of 'Gross National Happiness' as a means of assessing and understanding its national prosperity. Dr Kim explains the GNH methodology, how it has been used to evaluate the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and discusses how the concept of 'happiness' can be expanded to broaden understanding of a country's wellbeing.
Dr Julia Kim is the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan. She joined the GNH Centre in 2013 after serving as a member of the International Expert Working Group for a New Development Paradigm, convened by the Royal Government of Bhutan. Prior to living in Bhutan, she worked as a physician and HIV researcher in Africa and Asia, before serving with the United Nations in New York.
The withdrawal of the US military forces from Afghanistan marks the end of the 9/11 era of US foreign policy. Yet in many ways, the world still lives under the long shadow of the September 11 attacks and the consequences of the War on Terror.
In conversation with Dr Meghan O’Sullivan, the former special assistant to President George W Bush and later Deputy National Security Adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan. She spoke with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil about how September 11 has shaped America’s foreign policy stance in the two decades since the attacks - and how it will define global affairs into the future.
Recorded Wednesday 8th September 2021
Dr Meghan O'Sullivan is the Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and the Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Dr O’Sullivan was special assistant to President George W. Bush and served as Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lydia Khalil is Research Fellow in the West Asia Program at the Lowy Institute and manages its partnership with the Global Network on Extremism & Technology. She was international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and served as a political advisor for the US Department of Defense in Iraq. She is the editor of the Lowy Institute feature digital debate Did 9/11 change our world?
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with John Howard, Australia’s 25th Prime Minister. John Howard was Treasurer from 1977 to 1983 in the Fraser government and served as Prime Minister between 1996 and 2007.
Michael and John discuss how China has changed in the last twenty-five years, Australia’s relationship with East Timor, and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
John recounts watching Prime Minister Menzies eulogise Sir Winston Churchill, talks about being in Washington on 9/11, and reflects on Australia’s relations with Indonesia.
In this episode of Conversations, Jonathan Pryke speaks with Richard Marles, Deputy Leader of Australia’s Federal Opposition and Shadow Minister for National Reconstruction, Employment, Skills and Business. They discuss why the Pacific matters for Australia, and how Australia can play a more proactive role in its immediate region.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Julia Gillard, Australia’s 27th Prime Minister. Julia Gillard was Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and then served as Australia’s first female Prime Minister from 2010 to 2013.
Michael and Julia talk about the Australia-US alliance, China’s role in Asia, and the importance of the UN and the Quad.
Julia reflects on Australia’s role in the Afghanistan war, what COVID has revealed about the UK and Australia, and world leaders she admires.
This episode was recorded on Thursday 26 August, before the attacks at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
A discussion with two of Washington’s most insightful commentators on a defining moment of the Biden presidency: the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove hosted this discussion with The New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Thomas Wright about the implications of the US withdrawal for the fight against terrorism and America’s role as the leading global power.
In an increasingly contested world, basic questions about how the world works, and how it should work, are being asked anew. In Rules Based Audio we will be posing those questions to some of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners. This podcast series is part of the Lowy Institute’s Rules-Based Order project.
In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott talks to John Ikenberry, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. Amongst foreign policy thinkers, practitioners and students, John’s name is synonymous with liberal internationalism. He is the author of eight books, all exploring the idea of liberal internationalism, the concept of the liberal world order and America’s place in it. His latest book is A World Safe for Democracy: Liberal Internationalism and the Crises of Global Order.
In this special episode of Conversations, Herve Lemahieu speaks with Lowy Institute Middle East specialists Lydia Khalil and Rodger Shanahan on the capitulation of the Afghan government, the decisions and policy failures that led to this outcome, and what to expect from the Taliban back in power.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the well-known American strategist and author, Dr Kori Schake. Kori began her career at the Pentagon before serving on the National Security Council and the State Department under President George W. Bush. She also served as the senior foreign policy adviser on Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Kori is currently a Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defence Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
Kori and Michael talk about John McCain, the Iraq War, the West’s response to President Trump and US policy towards China.
Kori talks about the influence Condoleezza Rice had on her during her studies at Stanford, reflects on her time in the Bush administration, and discusses the challenges of being a Republican in a Trumpified Washington.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant talks with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world’s leading experts on economic development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty. They assess the state of global cooperation in the time of COVID-19, and the role the United States and Australia must play to foster worldwide inclusive economic recovery. They also discuss the impact of a possible intellectual property waiver for vaccines, as well as the responsibility of Australia in the face of the adverse consequences of climate change, especially in the Pacific.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper commentaries appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership, and has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. He is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on economic development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty.
A conversation with leading US foreign policy practitioner and thinker Richard Haass, the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove speaks with Dr Haass about President Biden’s foreign policy, China, Russia and the international implications of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat, a prominent voice on American foreign policy, and an established leader of nonprofit institutions. He is in his nineteenth year as President of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organisation, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to helping people better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. He previously served as an adviser to President George H.W. Bush and as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department during George W. Bush’s first term.
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He is the author of several books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World, which won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. In 2019 Dr Fullilove was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to international relations.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Saad Mohseni, CEO and chairman of Afghanistan’s largest media company, Moby Group.
Saad talks about growing up as the son of a diplomat, moving to Melbourne after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and founding Moby Group in 2002.
Michael and Saad talk about the future of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces, as well as Australia’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow, Jennifer Hsu talks with Sophie McNeill, Australia researcher for Human Rights Watch and formerly an investigative reporter with ABC TV’s Four Corners program. They discuss how the Chinese government, despite being thousands of kilometres from Australia, has sought to influence and censor Chinese international students studying at Australian universities, especially those who express support for democratic movements.
Sophie McNeill is the Australia researcher for Human Rights Watch. She was formerly an investigative reporter with ABC TV’s Four Corners program. She is the winner of three Walkley Awards. In 2020, she was the co-winner of the Lowy Institute’s Media Award for the ABC Four Corners episodes ‘Rebellion’ and ‘Tell the World’, about Hong Kong’s fight for democracy and China’s treatment of its Uyghur population.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Professor Philip Bobbitt, one of America’s leading experts on constitutional law and national security, and the nephew of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Philip has served in both Democratic and Republican administrations and is the Herbert Wechsler Professor of Federal Jurisprudence at Columbia University Law School.
Philip reflects on the presidents he has worked with, the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, the future of US-China competition, and how history will judge his uncle Lyndon.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Natasha Kassam talks with Michelle Grattan, Chief Political Correspondent at the Conversation, and Katharine Murphy, Political Editor of Guardian Australia. They discuss how Australian foreign policy has played a changing role in Australian politics, how Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved from ‘negative globalism’ to being a multilateralist, Australia’s response to COVID-19 and ‘Fortress Australia’, and the fraught politics of climate change.
Michelle Grattan is one of Australia’s most respected political journalists, who has been a member of the Canberra parliamentary press gallery for more than four decades. She has written for all the major Australian newspapers, including as editor of The Canberra Times. Michelle is currently Chief Political Correspondent at The Conversation and has an academic appointment at the University of Canberra.
Katharine Murphy has been Guardian Australia's Political Editor since 2016, working in Canberra's parliamentary press gallery for 23 years. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra in October 2019 and holds an academic appointment there. Katharine's latest publication is her 2020 Quarterly Essay, The End of Certainty: Scott Morrison and Pandemic Politics.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the former US Deputy National Security Adviser, Matthew Pottinger. Matt started out as a journalist based in China, served in the US Marine Corps, and joined the Trump administration first as the Asia senior director at the National Security Council and later as Deputy National Security Advisor.
Michael and Matt speak about President Trump’s approach to foreign policy, the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the future of both US and Australian relations with China. Matt explains what originally interested him in China, speaks about his time in the Marine Corps, and reveals why he resigned from the White House after the Capitol siege of 6 January.
China’s ruling communist party celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding on 1 July 2021. Not only is it the world’s largest political party, with over 90 million members, it is also the richest, presiding over an economy en route to surpass that of the US.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute senior fellow, hosted a discussion with three leading China specialists about the anniversary and what it means for Australia and the world.
Chris Buckley is an award winning New York Times China correspondent.
Melinda Liu has spent more than a quarter century living and working as a foreign correspondent in Beijing; she is Newsweek's Beijing Bureau Chief.
Steve Tsang is director of the China Institute at SOAS university in London.
Papua New Guinea has been contending with a Covid-19 outbreak that has put its fragile health system under intense pressure. Case numbers have in recent weeks stabilised but there are concerns that vaccine hesitancy and limited resources are leaving the country facing the threat of a third wave of cases.
Since early 2020, Police Commissioner David Manning has been at the forefront of the Papua New Guinea’s pandemic response. First as the Emergency Controller and since the middle of last year as the designated Pandemic Controller, he has been at the centre of responses from public health orders, travel requirements and quarantine through to coordinating testing and tracing efforts.
In Conversation event with PNG Police Commissioner and Pandemic Controller David Manning, hosted by the Australia-Papua New Guinea Network’s Shane McLeod.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Lydia Khalil talks with Stan Grant about the erosion of democracy, the impact of globalisation, and the role of liberal values in the modern world.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
A conversation with one of the foremost chroniclers of American life. Author Lawrence Wright discussed his new book, The Plague Year, which tells the story of Covid-19 on a global and an intimate scale, illuminating the medical, economic, political and social ramifications of the pandemic. Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove interviewed Wright about his writing and journalism career, and the state of US politics.
Recorded on 22 June 2021.
A conversation with Ted Hui, the pro-democracy politician who made the tough call to abandon Hong Kong and seek refuge in Australia. How did the crackdown on the city’s democratic freedoms affect him and his family? What happens to Hong Kong now? How will he fight for his city’s freedoms from his home in Adelaide?
Ben Bland, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program and author of Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow, moderated this conversation with Ted Hui.
Ted Hui is a Hong Kong politician in exile. He served in the Hong Kong Legislature for four years and the District Council for ten years before fleeing to Australia in 2021. Hui is an advocate for Hong Kong’s freedom, initiated the 2021 Hong Kong Charter, and has been placed on a wanted list in Hong Kong for allegedly breaching the National Security Law.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Brookings Institution scholar and Merkel-watcher Dr Constanze Stelzenmüller. Constanze holds the Fritz Stern Chair at Brookings.
Michael and Constanze talk about the chancellorship of Angela Merkel, her legacy, and look to the future of German politics. Constanze reflects on the state of transatlantic relations, Germany’s relationship with China, and considers whether Merkel will go down as one of ‘the great chancellors.’
A conversation about Australia’s climate change debate. How did we get here? What does the public think? And how will Australia be placed in the lead-up to COP26 in Glasgow?
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Herve Lemahieu, the Director of the Institute’s Power and Diplomacy Program, talks with Lord Adair Turner, former Chairman of the UK Committee on Climate Change and chair of the Energy Transmissions Commission, on the global climate agenda leading up to the November 2021 Glasgow climate summit.
Lowy Institute conversation with one of the world’s most respected economists, Professor Raghuram Rajan. In 2005, Professor Rajan presciently warned of the risks to financial stability that lay ahead. What are those risks today? What should we make of the dramatic shift in favour of fiscal activism in advanced economies? Is Big Tech helping or hindering innovation? What is the place of social institutions in the economy? And how can India emerge from its Covid-19 crisis?
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2013 to 2016. From 2003 to 2006, he was chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. He is the author of several best-selling books, including Fault lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy and The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Hold the Community Behind.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Ben Bland, the Director of the Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, sits down with author Elizabeth Becker to talk about the pioneering – but often overlooked – contributions of women war correspondents in Vietnam and beyond.
Elizabeth Becker is a veteran foreign correspondent who has worked for the Washington Post, the New York Times and National Public Radio, reporting from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. After covering the war in Cambodia in the 1970s, she wrote an award-winning history of the rise of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Elizabeth’s new book, You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War, explores how three intrepid journalists – Frances FitzGerald, Catherine Leroy and Kate Webb – changed the way the Vietnam War was seen and understood.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Admiral Harry Harris, the former US commander and diplomat. Harry served as the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and as President Trump’s Ambassador to South Korea.
Harry discusses his military career, which took in postings from Guantanamo Bay to INDOPACOM headquarters in Honolulu, when he led nearly 400,000 military personnel. They also discuss his time as a diplomat, when he grappled with issues including Black Lives Matter and President Trump’s attempts to cut a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Harry recounts his ‘Sliding Doors’ moment, when he was meant to serve as Ambassador to Australia.
At the Lowy Institute's headquarters at 31 Bligh Street, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull launched a new book, 'Red Zone: China’s Challenge and Australia’s Future' by Nonresident Fellow Peter Hartcher.
Hartcher’s new book explores China’s intentions in relation to Australia, and what lies behind the recent chill between the two countries. The launch event included remarks by Turnbull and Hartcher as well as a Q&A hosted by Research Director Alex Oliver.
This event was recorded on 31 May 2021.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sits down with Linda Jaivin to discuss her new book, The Shortest History of China.
Linda Jaivin is a journalist, writer and translator who has been studying Chinese politics, language and culture for more than 40 years. She is based in Sydney.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
Covid-19 remains a significant challenge for Papua New Guinea. While case numbers appear to have stabilised after a big surge earlier this year, the virus continues to spread and put further strain on already-stretched healthcare resources. Much needed vaccines have arrived and a national rollout strategy has begun. But vaccine hesitancy is a huge concern – with frontline health workers among those reluctant to accept the vaccine. A major factor appears to be online misinformation – with conspiracy theories and fake news proliferating, and adding to the burden for those trying to reduce the pandemic’s impact.
In this online event, the panellists discuss the challenges of Covid-19 and social media misinformation in Papua New Guinea. Researchers at the ABC Media Development Initiative outline their latest data tracking the spread of online misinformation, and panellists to discuss the impact it has on health outcomes, and the broader community.
This event was hosted by Shane McLeod, a Research Fellow working with the Lowy Institute’s Australia-PNG Network, at 1pm AEST on Wednesday 19 May 2021.
PANELLISTS: Joys Eggins is the Research Coordinator with the ABC Media Development Initiative based in Port Moresby. Joys has been involved in a number of research projects in PNG and the Pacific, her personal project on youth narratives on HIV/AIDS through use of film employed a communication for social change approach. She is a founding member of the Centre for Social and Creative Media, working as a Lecturer Research and Production at the Centre. Joys is currently focused on strategic alignment, research, monitoring and evaluation support on voice and accountability initiatives with mainstream media in Papua New Guinea, as well as creative communication approaches around good governance. She holds an MA from the University of Goroka.
Dr Prashanth Pillay manages monitoring and evaluation and research at ABC International Development. He has published in the fields of political science and media and communication. His area of research expertise lies in digital media studies, international development and developing digital methodologies for social media analysis. He has a PhD in youth political communication from Monash University, where he also worked as a researcher and lecturer. He has previously run an award-winning technology start-up on web publishing and design in Singapore.
Belinda Kora is the Secretary of the Media Council of PNG. She is one of the country’s best-known journalists, having worked in the industry for nearly 20 years. Her voice is familiar to radio listeners as a newsreader on PNG-FM where she rose to become News Director. She later worked in similar roles at FM100 and at PNG-TV. Belinda completed her undergraduate studies at Divine Word University in Madang.
Dr Gary Nou is a senior doctor and the Provincial Liaison and EMT lead with the Papua New Guinea National Control Centre for Covid-19. He was previously the Incident Manager for Port Moresby with the NCC. Dr Nou is an emergency physician at the Gerehu Hospital in Port Moresby and is also president of the Papua New Guinea Society for Emergency Medicine.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with award-winning author Anna Funder. Anna is widely known for her two bestselling books on German history, Stasiland and All that I Am.
Michael and Anna discuss the Stasi and East Germany, the differences between the United States and Australia, life in a pandemic – and whether writers are a bit like spies.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute Lead Economist, sits down with Dr Ross Garnaut to discuss the ideas in his new book, Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession.
Ross Garnaut is one of Australia’s foremost public intellectuals. In 2008 he produced the Garnaut Climate Change Review for the Australian government, as well as an update of the review in 2011. He was previously a principal economic advisor to former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke and Australia’s ambassador to China in the late 1980s.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
When Myanmar’s military seized power on 1 February, it sent the country spiralling into a political and economic crisis. Despite killing hundreds of peaceful protesters and detaining thousands of activists and politicians, the military has been unable to break the civil disobedience movement. It is unable to govern Myanmar, and risks turning the country into a failed state. As the situation deteriorates, what can the world do to help resolve the Myanmar crisis?
Scot Marciel, a former US ambassador to Myanmar; Khin Ohmar, a veteran democracy activist from Myanmar; Rizal Sukma, an Indonesian foreign policy expert; and Janelle Saffin, a Labor MP and the founder of the Australia-Myanmar Parliament Group, joined Ben Bland, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, for a discussion on the Myanmar crisis.
This Lowy Institute Live event was recorded on 7 May 2021 at 1pm AEST.
- Event Speakers - Scot Marciel is a Visiting Scholar and Practicioner Fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. He was the US ambassador to Myanmar from 2016 to 2020, and previously served as US ambassador to Indonesia, US ambassador for ASEAN affairs and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific at the State Department.
Khin Ohmar is a democracy and human rights activist from Myanmar. She is the founder and chair of the advisory board of Progressive Voice, a human rights research and advocacy organisation. She was a student activist during the 1988 democracy uprising.
Janelle Saffin is a Labor MP in the New South Wales parliament and a former MP in Australia's federal parliament. She is the founder of the Australia-Myanmar Parliament Group and has extensive experience working on development and legal issues in Myanmar and Timor-Leste, where she served as a special adviser to former president and prime minister José Ramos-Horta.
Rizal Sukma is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, and the former executive director of Indonesia’s leading international think tank. He was the Indonesian ambassador to the UK from 2016 to 2020 and has served as a foreign policy adviser to President Joko Widodo.
Ben Bland is the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute. Before joining the Lowy Institute, Ben was an award-winning foreign correspondent for the Financial Times. He has an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Cambridge.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Dr Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a leading Indian think tank.
Michael and Samir talk about India’s devastating second wave of COVID, the time it will take for India to recover from the crisis, and what the pandemic means for US-China relations. Samir speaks about his own experiences with the virus and analyses how the crisis may affect India’s position in the world.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Alexandre Dayant, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, sits down with David Malpass, President of the World Bank, to discuss the Bank’s COVID-19 response and developing countries’ long road to recovery, as well as the hurdles the institution has faced during the pandemic.
David R. Malpass is the 13th President of the World Bank Group. He previously served as US Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the distinguished policymaker and policy entrepreneur Michèle Flournoy. Michèle is a former senior Pentagon official, managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and chair of the Center for a New American Security.
Michèle is a leading expert on US defence and strategic policy. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy in the Clinton administration. Michèle also served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Obama administration, which made her, at the time, the highest-ranking woman in the history of the Pentagon.
Michael and Michèle discuss the rise of China, the resilience of America and Australia’s and New Zealand’s approach to the world. Michèle also reflects on the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq, the workplace environment at the Pentagon, and risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
On Wednesday 21 April, the Lowy Institute's Aus-PNG Network held a panel discussion with health professionals from provinces in PNG to talk about the Covid-19 situation and how local officials are contending with the virus.
Papua New Guinea is dealing with a widespread outbreak of Covid-19 that has placed already stretched health services across the country under intense strain. While the situation in the capital Port Moresby is difficult, the pandemic’s impact is also being felt in provinces across the country.
Panellists included Dr Pamela Toliman, PNG Institute of Medical Research, Goroka; Dr Stella Jimmy, Provincial Coordinator Covid-19, West Sepik Provincial Health Authority, Vanimo; Professor Brendan Crabb, CEO, Burnet Institute, Melbourne; and Shane McLeod, Project Director, Aus-PNG Network (host).
On Thursday 15 April, the Lowy Institute launched the new Lowy Institute Paper by John Edwards, one of Australia’s leading economists: Reconstruction: Australia After COVID.
The book was launched with a panel discussion with Lowy Institute board director, former APEC ambassador and OECD staffer Joanna Hewitt AO, Lowy Institute Papers editor Sam Roggeveen and author John Edwards on the fractured state of the global economy, America’s epic economic contest with China, and what it all means for Australia.
Dr John Edwards is a Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He was a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 2011 to 2016. He was principal economic adviser to Treasurer and then Prime Minister Paul Keating.
On Monday 19 April, Peter Khalil MP and Dave Sharma MP had a discussion about Australia’s place in the world with Lowy Institute’s Director of Research Alex Oliver. They covered: what Australia should be doing in the world as an engaged middle power, Australia-China relations, and the fight against climate change.
Peter Khalil is the Federal Labor Member for Wills, elected to Parliament in 2016 and re-elected at the 2019 election. Prior to his parliamentary career, Mr Khalil was a Victorian Multicultural Commissioner, an Executive Director at SBS and a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC. He was foreign policy adviser to the prime minister (2007–08), served in Iraq (2003–04) with the Department of Defence and worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mr Khalil has bachelor’s degrees in arts and law from Melbourne University and a master’s degree in international law from Australian National University.
Dave Sharma was elected to Parliament as the Liberal Member for Wentworth at the 2019 federal election. He was formerly a career diplomat, serving in Papua New Guinea and Washington, DC before being appointed Australia’s Ambassador to Israel in 2013. He has been an adviser to Australia’s foreign minister and was head of the International Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2010 to 2012. He graduated in law with first class honours from the University of Cambridge.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Australian-American diplomat, Middle East scholar, and author Dr Martin Indyk. Martin worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations as Assistant Secretary of State, US Ambassador to Israel and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Affairs and a long-serving Board member at the Lowy Institute.
Michael and Martin discuss his career working on Middle East peace, as well as Israeli politics, recent events in Jordan, and the Biden administration's approach towards Saudi Arabia. Martin reflects on growing up in Sydney, what Bill Clinton was like as a boss, and what we can learn from Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sits down with Dr John Edwards and Jennifer Hewitt to discuss Australia’s economy after COVID-19.
Dr John Edwards is a Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, an Adjust Professor at Curtin University, a former board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and was senior economic advisor to Prime Minister Paul Keating. Jennifer Hewitt is national affairs columnist at The Australian Financial Review.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
With a priority vaccination program underway, Papua New Guinea is striving to get control of a mushrooming outbreak of Covid-19. The virus is putting immense strain on the country’s health system, with hospitals and facilities struggling to cope.
PNG Health Minister Hon. Jelta Wong has been a key figure in the country’s response. Mr Wong was first appointed Minister for Health in 2019, and after a reshuffle in late 2020 was reappointed to the key post. Mr Wong has also served in the portfolios of Police and Civil Aviation after being elected to the East New Britain seat of Gazelle Open in 2017.
Listen to this special Aus-PNG Network online event with Minister Wong in conversation with Jonathan Pryke, the Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program. Recorded on 1 April 2021.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Director of the Southeast Asia Program Ben Bland sits down with Nathan Law to discuss exile, China’s repressive policies and the long struggle ahead for democracy in Hong Kong.
Nathan Law is a Hong Kong democracy activist who was elected as the city’s youngest-ever legislator in 2016 before being disqualified by the government and then jailed for his role in the 2014 Umbrella Revolution. He fled Hong Kong last year for London after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law, and he remains on a Chinese “wanted” list for his advocacy of human rights and democracy. In between protests, politics and prison, he found time to take a master’s degree in East Asian Studies at Yale University.
Conversations is a new Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with award-winning journalist, author, and editor Anna Fifield. Anna, the editor of the Wellington newspaper The Dominion Post, has previously reported for the Financial Times and The Washington Post from London, Washington, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. Anna is the author of a celebrated biography of Kim Jong-un titled The Great Successor.
Michael and Anna talk about reporting from Beijing and Tokyo and writing about Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un. Anna also speaks about human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province, the recent summit meeting in Anchorage, and the contrasting policies of Australia and New Zealand towards China.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil sits down with Zoe Daniel to discuss her new book, Greetings from Trumpland. Zoe Daniel is a three-time foreign correspondent and former ABC News United States Bureau Chief. She was based in Washington, DC from 2015 to 2019 and was the ABC’s Southeast Asia correspondent from 2009 to 2013.
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with international business leader Marcus Wallenberg. Marcus is a fifth-generation member of the Wallenberg Family, a Swedish political and business dynasty that has counted foreign ministers, ambassadors, and prominent business figures among its numbers.
Marcus is the chairman of both Saab and the SEB Group. He sits on the board of AstraZeneca and the international advisory board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and has previously served as chair of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Michael and Marcus talk about the situation in Hong Kong, the rollout of vaccines, and how the pandemic has changed the nature of work. Marcus discusses how China is viewed in Europe, the future of the international economy, and leaders who have impressed him.
Saab Australia is a subsidiary of Saab AB, of which Marcus Wallenberg is the Chairman. Saab Australia is a corporate member of the Lowy Institute.
We are one year into a pandemic that has upended life as we once knew it. How has the pandemic affected women across the world – in their employment prospects, their caring and household responsibilities, the rate of domestic violence they suffer, their access to education and the mental health challenges they face?
COVID-19 has also provided lessons in leadership. New Zealand and Taiwan appeared first and third on the Lowy Institute’s recently released COVID Performance Index. To what extent can their success be attributed to the approaches and styles of their female leaders?
In this special event marking International Women's Day 2021, our panel discusses the effect the pandemic has had on women and examine women’s leadership throughout the past year.
- Event Speakers - Professor Michelle Ryan, inaugural Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, ANU, and Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, University of Exeter
Professor Jacqui True, Director of Monash University’s Centre for Gender, Peace and Security and Professor of Politics and International Relations
Natasha Kassam, Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor sits down with Natasha Kassam and Jane Perlez to discuss new Lowy Institute research relating to the bilateral relationship between Australia and China.
Natasha Kassam is Director of the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program and is working on a series of reports for the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence project. Jane Perlez is a long-time foreign correspondent for The New York Times and an expert on China's role in the world and US-China competition.
Conversations is a new Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson. Over the course of her career, Frances has represented Australia’s interests in Europe and Asia and advised foreign ministers and prime ministers.
Michael and Frances discuss relations with China, recent events in Myanmar, and how DFAT is helping Australians abroad during the pandemic. Frances reflects on why she joined DFAT, nominates Australian and foreign leaders who have impressed her, and talks about the distinctiveness of Australian diplomacy.
What are the key issues likely to dominate Australia’s international agenda in 2021? China's economic statecraft, regional friction in the Pacific, the climate-change agenda, and how the world recovers economically from the coronavirus pandemic are covered in this wide-ranging panel discussion between Lowy Institute experts.
This event was hosted by the Lowy Institute at our headquarters at 31 Bligh St in Sydney on Tuesday 23 February 2021.
- Event Speakers - Alex Oliver is the Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, where she is responsible for the Institute's team of experts and directs the research program. Until 2018, she directed the Lowy Institute's program on diplomacy and public opinion, including the annual Lowy Institute Poll.
Roland Rajah is the Lead Economist and Director of the International Economics Program at the Lowy Institute. Before joining the Lowy Institute Roland was a Senior Economist and Country Manager at the Asian Development Bank, where he worked on macro-fiscal policy, economic growth, and development issues in the Pacific region.
Jonathan Pryke is Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program. Jonathan joined the Lowy Institute in 2015 from the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University where he was a researcher, editor of the Development Policy Blog and a co-convener of the Australasian Aid Conference.
Peter Cai returns to the Lowy Institute in 2021 as director of a new project on Australia-China relations. Peter led the Institute’s China work in 2016, and is the author of the 2017 Lowy Institute Analysis Understanding China’s Belt And Road Initiative, which has become one of the world’s most consulted and popular pieces of research on the BRI.
What are the key issues likely to dominate Australia’s international agenda in 2021? Australia's relations with China and America, the COVID and climate-change agenda, and how the new US administration will approach the region are covered in this wide-ranging panel discussion between Lowy Institute experts. This event was hosted by the Lowy Institute at the National Press Club of Australia on Monday 15 February 2021.
- Event Speakers - Richard McGregor is a Senior Fellow on China at the Lowy Institute. He was the Financial Times bureau chief in Beijing and Shanghai between 2000 and 2009, and headed the Washington office for four years from 2011. Prior to joining the FT, he was the chief political correspondent and China and Japan correspondent for The Australian.
Natasha Kassam is a Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program. She is a former Australian diplomat and Fellow of the ANU National Security College’s Futures Council for 2020-21.
Ben Scott is the Director of the Lowy Institute’s project on Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order. He joined the Lowy Institute from the Office of National Intelligence, where he was a Senior Middle East Analyst before representing ONI at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC from 2016-2020.
Sam Roggeveen is Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, and a Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. Sam was a senior strategic analyst the Office of National Assessments. He also worked on arms control policy in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, and as an analyst in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Ben Bland, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, sits down with Aye Min Thant and Melissa Crouch to discuss the causes and consequences of the coup in Myanmar, and how protesters are using technology and humour to push back against the military. Aye Min Thant is a journalist based in Yangon who was part of a Pulitzer Prize–winning team at Reuters and has worked for an organisation promoting technological innovation in Myanmar. Melissa Crouch is Professor and Associate Dean of Research at the Law School at the University of New South Wales and is a leading expert on the Myanmar constitution.
Conversations is a new Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
Patrick Kaiku from UPNG, journalist Rebecca Kuku and Transparency International's Yuambari Haihuie join the Lowy Institute's Shane McLeod to talk about the topics and themes likely to be in the news in 2021 in PNG. This discussion was recorded on 9 February 2021.
- Event Speakers - Rebecca Kuku is a Senior Reporter covering Politics and Security with more than eight years experience in the mainstream media. She regularly writes about Gender Based Violence and Sorcery Accusation Related Violence and other social issues. Rebecca is currently reporting for the PNG Post-Courier newspaper and is also a content contributor for The Guardian. Rebecca also publishes work through her Facebook page Becky’s World which has more than 15,000 followers.
Yuambari Haihuie is the Deputy Director (Policy and Advocacy) at Transparency International PNG. He’s been working on good governance and anti-corruption campaigns in PNG for more than six years and has contributed to TI’s research and advocacy work such as the 2017 PNG National Election Report, Corruption Risk Assessment of Mining Licences, and the need for Access to Information Legislation in PNG. He is a volunteer director on the board of the Young Professionals Network of PNG and was a participant in the 2017 Australia-PNG Emerging Leaders Dialogue.
Patrick Kaiku is a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Papua New Guinea, and has written extensively on national and international political affairs in PNG. After undergraduate and honours studies at UPNG, he received a Masters in Pacific Studies from the University of Hawaii.
Shane McLeod is a Research Fellow working with the Lowy Institute’s Australia-PNG Network. Before joining the Institute, he was a senior editor at ABC News in roles where he managed its Sydney newsroom and the flagship radio programs AM, The World Today, and PM. He is a former foreign correspondent with postings in Japan and Papua New Guinea, as well as reporting assignments throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He has also worked as a journalist in regional Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with General David Petraeus who led the 2007 surge in Iraq, headed up the US Central Command, commanded US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and served as director of the CIA.
Michael and David discuss America’s involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, reflect on President Biden’s approach to the use of force, and the Capitol riots of January 6. David provides insight into the future of the US-China relationship, shares his impressions of President Biden’s foreign policy team, and evaluates the legacy of the Trump presidency.
Two of America’s most influential and respected commentators, David Ignatius of The Washington Post and Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report, joined Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove for this conversation on the Biden administration, American unity and recovery after the Trump administration and Covid-19, and the early indications of President Biden’s international policies.
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Lowy Institute Director of Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order project, Ben Scott, sits down with Stacie Goddard, Mildred Lane Kemper Professor of Political Science and Faculty Director of the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College, and Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation, to discuss the United States and the Rules-Based Order.
View this interactive debate between six experts on America's approach to the rules-based order: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/usa-rules-based-order/
Conversations is a Lowy Institute podcast in which Institute researchers and some of the world's leading experts delve into the big issues in international affairs.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Evan Osnos, the award-winning journalist, author and staff writer for The New Yorker. In 2014 he published a book on China, Age of Ambition, which won the National Book Award. Evan recently released an insightful and highly readable biography of the President-elect, Joe Biden: American Dreamer.
Michael and Evan discuss Joe Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1988, his record as Barack Obama’s Vice President, and analyse the team he will take into government. Evan provides insight into Biden’s relationship with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, his love for ‘the connect’, and the approach that President Biden will take to China and the world.
The opportunities and challenges presented by globalisation are very much on the mind of India’s Minister for External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He wants India to enter the global arena “with cards to play” and, to that end, has argued for India to take a stronger approach to building its national capabilities. Those national capabilities have been tested by COVID-19, which has infected over 1 million Indians and claimed nearly 140,000 lives.
But Dr Jaishankar also recognises the need for India to focus on greater international cooperation in solving the existential problems of the day, including climate change, terrorism and pandemics.
“The world is not going to carry on with business as usual,” Dr Jaishankar recently observed. “Those with a more self-centred view of world politics will have to come to terms with the needs of the day.”
The Lowy Institute was pleased to host Dr Jaishankar at a time of great ambition for India-Australia ties. In this virtual event, the Executive Director of Australia’s Lowy Institute, Dr Michael Fullilove, chaired a discussion ranging over topics such as India’s place in the world, its relations with China, the recently reconstituted ‘Quad’ grouping, COVID-19, and the future of India’s relations with Australia.
- About the Speakers - Dr Jaishankar was Foreign Secretary from 2015 to 2018, Ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2015, Ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013, High Commissioner to Singapore from 2007 to 2009 and Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2004. He is the author of a new book, The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World.
Dr Fullilove writes widely on Australian and US politics and foreign policy in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. Dr Fullilove is the author of several books including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World (Penguin).
In this episode of COVIDcast, Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, sits down with the two leading researchers behind the Lowy Institute’s 2020 Asia Power Index, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program, and Alyssa Leng, Research Associate in the Power and Diplomacy Program. The 2020 edition of the Power Index, which encompasses three years of data, is the most comprehensive assessment of the changing distribution of power in Asia so far. Explore all the results on a specially designed digital platform at power.lowyinstitute.org.
This is the final episode of COVIDcast. Next year we will return with a fortnightly podcast called Lowy Institute Conversations.
The authors of 'The Truth of the Palace Letters: Deceit, Ambush and Dismissal in 1975' have a conversation on the implications of the Palace Letters for the Australian Constitution, democracy, and the debate on an Australian republic. This conversation was moderated by Alex Oliver, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, and hosted as in-person event at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
After a protracted legal battle, the ‘Palace Letters’ were released by the National Archives of Australia to the public in July 2020. In their latest book on the 1975 dismissal, Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston have delved into hundreds of the released documents, together with newly discovered archival material and interviews. The result is a revealing analysis of the workings of the constitutional monarchy, the complex web of relationships between the Queen in Buckingham Palace and the Governor-General in Canberra, and more broadly between Australia and the United Kingdom.
- About the speakers - Paul Kelly is The Australian newspaper’s Editor at Large, and author of numerous books on Australian politics and history, including Howard’s Decade, a Lowy Institute Paper in 2006, and Triumph & Demise: The Broken Promise of a Labor Generation (2014). Present at Parliament House in Canberra on the day of the dismissal, Kelly has written several books on the subject, including The Dismissal: In the Queen's Name (2015) with Troy Bramston.
Troy Bramston is a senior writer and columnist with The Australian, and author or editor of nine books, including Paul Keating: The Big-picture Leader (2016); Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics (2019); and Rudd, Gillard and Beyond (2014). Bramston has discovered new archival documents and interviewed most of the key players in the dismissal. He co-authored The Dismissal: In the Queen's Name with Paul Kelly and is currently writing a biography of Bob Hawke.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with one of the leading US Democratic voices on foreign policy, Kurt Campbell. From 2009 to 2013, Kurt served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under Secretary Clinton in the Obama administration, where he is widely credited as a key architect of the “pivot to Asia.” He is CEO of The Asia Group, and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Center for a New American Security, which he co-founded with Michèle Flournoy in 2007.
Michael and Kurt discuss Kurt’s upbringing, his working life, President-elect Biden’s likely policy towards Asia, the current disagreement between Canberra and Beijing, and future relations between the Biden administration and the Morrison government.
As part of the Lowy Institute's Lowy Lecture broadcast, we put together a short ‘year in review’ that marks a turbulent year in world politics and describes how the Institute has found new ways of delivering its content despite COVID-19 restrictions.
This 'year in review' is followed by the 2020 Lowy Lecture delivered by Fareed Zakaria, one of the world’s most interesting and influential observers of international affairs. Dr Zakaria spoke about US-China relations and, in the Q&A with Dr Michael Fullilove, the implications of the superpower rivalry for Australia.
The annual Lowy Lecture is the Lowy Institute’s flagship event, at which a prominent speaker reflects on Australia and the world. Past Lecturers have included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, former CIA Director David Petraeus, News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Lowy Institute Chairman Sir Frank Lowy and Prime Minister John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005. Dr Zakaria delivered this year's lecture via webcast from the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
The Lowy Institute is grateful for the support of the sponsors of the 2020 Lowy Lecture: BHP and Capital Group.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Ben Bland, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Tom Tugendhat MP to discuss the UK’s COVID-19 crisis, the imminent Brexit endgame and why the British government is taking a tougher stance on China. Tugendhat is a rising star in the ruling Conservative party and chair of the UK parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Monday 23 November, the Lowy Institute held a panel event at Canberra's National Press Club with the principal researchers behind the annual Asia Power Index. Hervé Lemahieu and Alyssa Leng, were joined by Roland Rajah, the Lowy Institute’s lead economist, to present the Index’s key findings and early results from a follow-on project looking at the future of global economic power to 2050.
The event was moderated by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program.
Delivering the 2020 Owen Harries Lecture, Dr Francis Fukuyama offers a defence of liberalism in theory and in practice. This lecture includes Dr Fukuyama's analysis of left-wing and right-wing identity politics, Trumpist politics outlasting Donald Trump's presidency, and president-elect Joe Biden's foreign policy.
Dr Fukuyama joined the Lowy Institute via webcast from California. His lecture is followed by a conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove.
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Owen Harries Lecture - Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the enormous contribution Mr Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, made to the international policy debate in Australia and the US. This was the first such lecture since Mr Harries’ passing in June, and we were honoured that it was delivered by Francis Fukuyama, one of the most influential political scientists of his generation.
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Event Speakers - Dr Francis Fukuyama is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1989 essay The End of History? was a global sensation. It was published in The National Interest, under then-editor Owen Harries.
Dr Michael Fullilove AM writes widely on Australian and US politics and foreign policy in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Atlantic and Foreign Affairs, as well as in the Australian press.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Professor Robert Dallek, the distinguished presidential historian. Professor Dallek is a prize-winning author who has written books about Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson and many other American presidents. Previously he has taught at Columbia, UCLA, Oxford and the University of Texas.
Professor Dallek discusses his upbringing in Brooklyn during the Great Depression, his thoughts on the enduring popularity of President Kennedy, and provides an early assessment of President Donald Trump's legacy. He analyses the recent election results and makes some predictions as to the shape of Joe Biden’s presidency.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Ben Bland, the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Chatib Basri to discuss Indonesia’s struggle with COVID-19 and the way forward after Southeast Asia’s biggest economy slid into its first recession since the Asian Financial Crisis. Chatib is a former finance minister and head of the investment coordinating board in Indonesia.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
Two of Washington’s most respected and well-connected journalists joined the Lowy Institute to discuss the 2020 US presidential election, Donald Trump's presidency, and prospects of a Biden White House.
Susan Glasser and Peter Baker assess the implications of a Trump or Biden win, discuss President Trump's latest press conference, and forecast who Vice President Joe Biden could select for his cabinet if elected president.
This conversation was chaired by Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and recorded at 1pm AEST on 6 November 2020.
The annual Lowy Institute Media Award recognises Australian journalists who have deepened the knowledge, or shaped the discussion, of international policy issues in our country.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year the Institute decided not to hold a Media Award Dinner. Instead, on Thursday 29 October, the Institute broadcast a 30-minute online video presentation featuring the finalists and their work.
The broadcast also included a short conversation between Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM and The Hon. Peter Costello AC, Chairman of Nine Entertainment Co and former Treasurer of Australia, about the media landscape in 2020.
In their full conversation, available here, they discussed the economics of the media industry in Australia, the balance between national security and media freedom, foreign coverage as a component of Nine’s journalism, and international economic recovery after COVID.
Their conversation was recorded on Thursday 22 October.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with one of the world’s leading Trumpologists, Dr Thomas Wright. Tom is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. His recent Lowy Institute Analysis, The Point of No Return: The 2020 Election and the Crisis of American Foreign Policy, examines implications of the 2020 US presidential election for Australia and the world.
Tom reflects on his childhood in Ireland, his experience working in the US foreign policy community as an immigrant, and takes listeners on a guided tour of the world views of President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden. He examines what a second Trump term, and a first Biden term, would mean for US policies on China, alliances, and global trade. He also discusses the stakes for Australia.
To mark the launch of the 2020 Asia Power Index, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, chaired a panel discussion with Joseph S. Nye Jr., Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; and Professor Yuen Foong Khong, Vice Dean at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
In the latest episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil sat down with Olivia Troye, a former White House Coronavirus Task Force member and Homeland Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Troye is the most recent Trump administration official to resign her position and come out publicly criticising the President’s handling of the pandemic.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Stephen Hadley, the former national security adviser to President George W. Bush. Throughout his long career, Steve Hadley worked for four American presidents – Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. He is Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace, a member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel – an international consulting firm he co-founded with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates.
Mr Hadley discusses his upbringing and his memories of Hillary Clinton at Yale as well as his experiences serving alongside Brent Scowcroft, James Baker, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and George W. Bush. He also talks about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and provides some observations on leadership, America’s response to COVID and China.
On Thursday 15 October 2020, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with General James Mattis, one of America’s most experienced and influential military leaders. General Mattis spoke about serving as US Secretary of Defense, his career as a US Marine, and the security challenge America faces from a rising China. They were joined by Sir Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force.
This event is part of the Lowy Institute's ‘Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project’ and is supported by the Department of Defence’s Strategic Policy Grants Program.
On Thursday 8 October, Lowy Institute's Director of the Pacific Islands Program, Jonathan Pryke, hosted a panel discussion on the economic devastation across the Pacific brought on by COVID-19–related lockdowns and restrictions.
As the Lowy Institute releases the second annual update of its Pacific Aid Map, an analytical tool that collates and analyses data on all aid projects in the Pacific, join us to hear from regional experts and development partners about how the COVID-19 crisis is playing out in the Pacific.
The panel consisted of Audrey Aumua, Deputy Director-General at the Pacific Community; Charlotte Blundell, Assistant Secretary for the Pacific Partnerships & Human Development Branch, DFAT; Alexandre Dayant, research lead of the Lowy Institute's Pacific Aid Map; Michel Kerf, World Bank Country Director for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands; and moderator Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant sat down with Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz to discuss the prospect of global cooperation in a time of rising populism and international mistrust.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and University Professor at Columbia University, is Chief Economist at the Roosevelt Institute and a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Australia’s Governor-General, His Excellency David Hurley. Mr Hurley joined the Australian Army in January 1972, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. His military service culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014. After serving as CDF, His Excellency was appointed Governor of NSW and then, in 2019, Governor-General of Australia.
The Governor-General reflects on his career as an officer in the Australian Army and discusses some of his overseas deployments to the United Kingdom, Somalia, and Malaysia. He looks back at Australia’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and talks about his experience representing the Australian community overseas as a vice regal representative and his work with Indigenous communities.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Shivshankar Menon to discuss the latest currents in Chinese foreign policy, particularly its tense border stand-off with India.
Shivshankar Menon is an Indian diplomat who served as National Security Adviser and Foreign Secretary, and also as Ambassador to Pakistan, China and Israel.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Yun Sun to get a Chinese perspective on Beijing’s latest foreign policy moves.
Yun Sun is a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Bilahari Kausikan to discuss Chinese foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on Southeast Asia.
Bilahari Kausikan is chair of the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute and a former permanent secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Singapore.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Thursday 24 September, Lowy Institute's Senior Fellow for North Asia, Richard McGregor, hosted a panel discussion on Australia and China's relationship.
Relations with China seem to be reaching new lows each week for Australia, with a proliferation of disputes over everything from trade to the media to COVID-19 to universities.
The panel was made up of ABC's Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith, both recently advised by the Australian government to leave China, along with Kirsty Needham, formerly of the Sydney Morning Herald and now with Reuters, for a discussion of the bilateral relationship.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant sat down with Professor Yanis Varoufakis to discuss Europe and the future of capitalism. Yanis is currently a member of the Hellenic Parliament and served as Greece’s minister of finance during the government debt crisis.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Professor at Harvard University, Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, and one of the leading American diplomats of his generation. Nick served in the US government for nearly three decades, holding senior positions under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was a member of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board and a foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. He is also a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
Michael and Nick discuss Nick’s career as an American diplomat serving in Nouakchott, Cairo, Jerusalem, Athens, Brussels and Washington, DC. They talk about ‘the unipolar moment’ after the end of the Cold War, America’s relations with Russia and China, and the Australia-US alliance. Nick also makes some observations about the working styles of George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and George W. Bush.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Ben Bland to discuss his new book, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia, and how the Indonesian president is faring in troubled times. Ben is the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute and a long-time Indonesia watcher.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Monday 7 September, the Lowy Institute launched the latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia, the first English-language biography of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove spoke with author Ben Bland about what makes the president tick, his struggle to implement reform and tackle the COVID-19 crisis, and why outsiders keep getting Jokowi – and Indonesia – wrong.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State; and national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.
In part two of this episode, Jake speaks with Michael about President Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia and his affinity for Vladimir Putin, US policy towards China, Biden’s approach to alliances, climate diplomacy and Australia – and whether Americans are still up for the challenge of global leadership.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State; and national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.
In part one of this episode, Jake speaks about growing up in the American Midwest, the death of George Floyd, imposter syndrome, and gender and the national security community. He also offers some observations about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
On Friday 28 August, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with Ambassador Samantha Power, one of America’s leading foreign-policy voices, both as a scholar and a Cabinet member in the Obama administration.
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove spoke with Power about US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, Vice President Joe Biden’s worldview, the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic and the future of the US-China relationship.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sat down with Dr Adam Posen to discuss the US economy and what a victory for Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the November election might mean for the future of American economic policy. Posen is President of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a leading independent and nonpartisan US think tank based in Washington.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo. Mike Pezzullo is a lifelong official, described recently as ‘one of Australia’s most powerful public servants’. He has been a trusted adviser to both Labor and Coalition governments, the author of a Defence White Paper, and the prime mover behind a major restructure of Australia’s domestic security apparatus. He has been a senior staffer in both government and opposition as well as a public servant in the departments of Defence, Immigration and Customs, and Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Michael and Mike reflect on Mike’s childhood in southern Sydney and discuss China, cybersecurity, Australia’s response to COVID, evolution of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, and Australian foreign policy.
Was Kamala Harris the right choice for presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden? Is she a policy radical or a centrist? What are her foreign policy views and will they be influential in a Biden Administration, or will the president set his own agenda?
These and other questions are raised in this discussion hosted by Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove, author of 'Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America in the War and Into the World'. Michael is joined by Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, former head of the Washington bureau for the Financial Times.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Ben Scott, Lowy Institute Director of the Rules Based Order Project, sat down with Bobo Lo to discuss Bobo’s new Lowy Institute Analysis: “Global Order in the Shadow of the Coronavirus: China, Russia and the West”. Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, an independent analyst and an Associate Research Fellow with the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Thursday 6 August, Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, joined Dr Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, for an in conversation event.
The United Arab Emirates has built an increasingly high profile in regional affairs in recent years. Long known for its resource riches and welcoming attitude towards Western expatriates, it has developed and diversified its domestic economy at great speed, and deployed its armed forces on operations in Afghanistan, Yemen and in support of the anti–Islamic State coalition. It also has strong links with Australia, hosting the largest overseas concentration of ADF assets, as well as nearly 20,000 Australian expats, three Australian universities and two Australian international high schools. It is Australia’s main trading partner in the Middle East; more than 300 Australian companies operate there, and the UAE invests more than $11 billion in Australia.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Brookings Institution scholar, and former Russia adviser to President Donald Trump, Dr Fiona Hill.
Fiona is one of the world’s leading Russia experts. She has worked in the US government under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and then served for two years in the Trump Administration. At the end of 2019, Fiona became world-famous following her testimony in the impeachment hearings into Donald Trump’s presidency.
Michael and Fiona reflect on Fiona's journey from County Durham in northern England to the corridors of the White House in Washington DC, and discuss the British class system, the US foreign policy establishment, American partisan politics, US-Russia relations, and Donald Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Lowy Institute senior fellow Richard McGregor sat down with Dexter Roberts to discuss his new book, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: The Worker, The Factory and the Future of the World. Roberts was based in China for more than two decades reporting for Bloomberg Businessweek.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Wednesday 15 July, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Annmaree O’Keeffe hosted a discussion with former Papua New Guinea High Commissioner to Australia Sir Charles Lepani and former Australian High Commissioner to PNG Ian Kemish.
This discussion considers what happens next: when relations can return to normal, what will have changed in the PNG-Australia relationship? What should be the priorities for two countries that share geography, history and economic interests?
On Wednesday 22 July, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic.
They addressed topics such as; the extraordinary presidential election year, the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic, and America’s looming cold war with China.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with diplomat, foreign policy intellectual and now Chancellor of the University of Queensland, Peter Varghese.
Peter had a distinguished career in the Australian public service over nearly four decades, representing our country abroad, running the foreign ministry and our key intelligence assessments agency and advising a prime minister. He is a rare beast: in addition to being a highly effective bureaucrat, Peter is an original thinker and an elegant writer.
Peter and Michael speak about the history and reality of race relations in Australia and growing up in the suburbs of Brisbane in the 1960s; Peter's time spent working with John Howard and the controversial foreign policy decision to participate in the US-led invasion of Iraq; his time as High Commissioner in New Delhi and his thoughts on the Australia-India bilateral relationship; the future of Australia's relationship with China; and American politics.
On Wednesday 15 July, Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute’s resident senior China expert, hosted a discussion with three eminent Chinese economists, Xu Xiaonian of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, Huang Yiping of Peking University and Wang Jiao of the University of Melbourne.
The discussion covers the prospects for China’s economy and the debate inside the government on possible stimulus measures, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Herve Lemahieu, Director of the Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, 29th Prime Minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018, to discuss global politics and the foreign policy challenges Australia must confront in the wake of the pandemic.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
On Wednesday 8 July, Lowy Institute Research Director Alex Oliver chaired a discussion on Australians' changing attitudes to the world and international relations. In this discussion, Peter Hartcher, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and International Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, and Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow and author of the 2020 Lowy Institute Poll, examine important shifts in Australian public opinion.
Topics covered include Australians' views of the United States, China and their respective leaders, and policy issues such as climate change, global cooperation, and foreign aid.
On Tuesday 30 June, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute Dr Michael Fullilove hosted a conversation with Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist.
They addressed a range of questions, including – What have we learned from the pandemic about the state of globalisation? Has the US-China rivalry now become a fully-fledged cold war? Is America too wounded to be the “leader of the free world”?
In this episode of COVIDcast, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sat down with Pascal Lamy to discuss the future of globalisation. Lamy has served at the peak of global trade and economic governance. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization for eight years, from 2005 to 2013, before which he was the Trade Commissioner for the European Union from 1999 to 2004. Currently he is President emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute, a policy think tank in Paris.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of this crisis for the world.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Sam Roggeveen, Lowy Institute’s Director of the International Security Program, sat down with Professor Hugh White to discuss the connection between the pandemic and the changing balance of power in Asia. Hugh White is an Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former diplomat, traveller, author and politician, Rory Stewart, a man whose life so far has been both conventional and highly unconventional.
Born in Hong Kong, Rory spent his childhood in Malaysia and Scotland, and passed through a number of establishment institutions including Eton, Balliol, the Black Watch, the Foreign Office and, according to speculation, the Secret Intelligence Service. He was a summer tutor to Princes William and Harry. And yet he has also repeatedly gone off-piste and done interesting and sometimes remarkable things, including walking 10,000km across Asia, and running as an independent candidate for mayor of London.
Rory and Michael speak about Rory's prescient response to the Covid-19 crisis, the disappointment of political life, the hollowing of the centre ground in British politics, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Joseph Wu. Dr Wu was appointed Foreign Minister by President Tsai Ing-wen on 26 February 2018. He was previously the head of the National Security Council, and the Chief Representative in the United States as the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington DC.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. In each episode, Lowy Institute experts and invited guests discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
On Thursday 11 June, Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation online event with Kurt Campbell and Michèle Flournoy. They discussed the US presidential election, Washington’s relations with Beijing, the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic, and the unrest on America's streets.
Kurt Campbell served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama administration, where he is widely credited as a key architect of the “pivot to Asia.” He is CEO of The Asia Group, and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Center for a New American Security.
Michèle Flournoy served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2012. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors and Co-Founder and former CEO of the Center for a New American Security, where she serves on the board.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Ben Bland led a discussion on the future of Hong Kong with three people who have been at the heart of recent events: pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok, human rights activist Bonnie Leung and Financial Times correspondent Sue-Lin Wong.
China’s decision to unilaterally implement national security legislation in Hong Kong has dealt a heavy blow to the city’s freedoms and autonomy. This latest move comes after years of intensifying pressure from Beijing, which has struck at the foundations of Hong Kong’s success as a global financial centre: individual liberties and the rule of law. With thousands of democracy activists already arrested in the last year and Beijing’s interventions becoming ever more intrusive, is this the end of Hong Kong as we know it?
PANEL Dennis Kwok is a practicing barrister and a pro-democracy member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, representing the legal profession. First elected to LegCo in 2012, Dennis is a member of the executive committee of the Civic Party. Dennis graduated and received his LLB from King’s College London in 1999 and was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 2006.
Bonnie Leung is a democracy activist and a member of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the massive peaceful protests against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill last year. A former district councillor, she also served as an international spokesperson for the anti-extradition bill movement.
Sue-Lin Wong is the Financial Times' South China correspondent, covering the pro-democracy protests on the ground in Hong Kong. In 2019, she opened the FT's bureau in Shenzhen, where Chinese tech giants Huawei and Tencent are headquartered. She will be joining The Economist as a China correspondent in July. Sue-Lin graduated from the Australian National University.
Ben Bland is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute who focuses on Hong Kong, as well as directing the Institute's Southeast Asia Program. He is the author of Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow and was formerly the South China Correspondent for the Financial Times, based in Hong Kong.
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Chris Buckley of the New York Times to discuss Xi Jinping’s China. Chris is widely acknowledged as one the world’s leading authorities on Chinese politics. He was back in his hometown of Sydney after the Chinese government refused to renew his visa allowing him to work as a journalist in China.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with legendary Australian official Dennis Richardson about his storied career in the public service, prime ministers he has known, and the foreign policy challenges facing Australia – including how to manage our relationships with the United States and China.
Over the course of his 48-year career, Dennis Richardson AO served in many important jobs including Ambassador to the United States, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Secretary of the Department of Defence, and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In this episode, Roland Rajah, Lowy Institute lead economist, sits down with Adam Tooze, Professor of History at Columbia University and the Director of its European Institute, to discuss how the COVID-19 economic crisis is evolving and reshaping the world economy.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, sits down with Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting health, economics, local communities, climate change, regionalism and geopolitics in the Pacific region.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
On Wednesday 27 May, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with Carl Bildt.
Carl Bildt was Sweden’s foreign minister from 2006 to 2014 and prime minister from 1991 to 1994, when he negotiated Sweden’s EU accession. A renowned international diplomat, he served as EU Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN Special Envoy to the Balkans, and Co-Chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference. He is Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
The conversation examined topics such as such the state of the European Union after Brexit and COVID-19, Sweden’s controversial approach to controlling the pandemic, and the transatlantic alliance as America’s presidential election approaches and Angela Merkel’s term draws to a close.
The Aus-PNG Network at the Lowy Institute was pleased to host this online event bringing together key figures with unique perspectives on the PNG-Australia relationship.
Once-in-a-century levels of disruption for the world economy as a result of Covid-19 have wrought their impact on the traditionally strong economic links between PNG and Australia. Shutdowns, travel bans and the potential of a public health crisis in both countries have sidelined the two-way traffic between our two countries. As both PNG and Australia start to ease the restrictions that have marked the first phase of the coronavirus response, how is business faring? How can people on both sides of the PNG-Australia relationship be ready to rebuild the ties between our two countries and prepare for recovery?
PETER AITSI is the group Chief Executive Officer of Credit Corporation Ltd and is well-known for his active roles in community and business organisations in PNG including Transparency International PNG and the Badili Club.
PRISCILLA KEVIN is an IT professional, entrepreneur and consultant, and was founder of the organisation PNG Women in STEM, and helped establish the PNG ICT cluster. In April 2020 she was appointed to the board of PNG's largest bank, Bank South Pacific.
PETER BOTTEN recently retired as Managing Director of Oil Search and has been a key figure in PNG-Australia business for three decades, with roles in community and business organisations in both countries.
This event was hosted as part of our 2020 Event Program with sponsorship from Bank South Pacific and Coca-Cola Amatil. The Aus-PNG Network appreciates and acknowledges the ongoing support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, about Brexit, leadership of the Labour Party, the future of internationalism, and the direct impact of COVID-19 on unprepared health care systems and populations with pre-existing vulnerabilities.
David Miliband served as a Cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including as Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010. He is President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, where he oversees the agency’s humanitarian relief operations in more than forty war-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs in over twenty US cities.
For more information on IRC's work, visit https://www.rescue.org/
In this episode, Roland Rajah, Director of the International Economy Program, sits down with Brad Setser, Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the impact of the pandemic on emerging markets and the role of the US dollar.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode, Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Pacific Islands Program sits down with Dave Sharma, Liberal member for the federal seat of Wentworth, NSW, to discuss strengthening ties between Australia and the Pacific, and a potential Pacific travel bubble.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
A conversation with two long-serving and distinguished former Australian foreign ministers, Julie Bishop and Gareth Evans. They discussed Australia’s response to COVID-19, relations with China, the government’s call for an international inquiry on the origins of the pandemic, the world order after COVID-19, and the future of international education in Australia.
Hosted by Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove, this Lowy Institute Live event was a live webcast via Zoom and included questions from the audience.
Julie Bishop is the Chancellor of the Australian National University. She served as Australia's foreign minister from 2013 to 2018 and was deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Australia for 11 years from 2007 to 2018. In a political career spanning over 20 years, Julie also served as Minister for Education, Science and Training, Minister for Women's Issues and Minister for Ageing.
Gareth Evans AC QC is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the ANU, where he was Chancellor from 2010 to 2019. He was a cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor governments from 1983 to 1996 and served as foreign minister from 1988 to 1996. He was also president and CEO of the International Crisis Group from 2000 to 2009.
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He writes widely on global issues in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times and Foreign Affairs, as well as in the Australian press.
In this episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, about running a major European power, his relationship with world leaders, global governance during COVID-19, and the future of the European project.
Enrico Letta served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2013 to 2014. He is the Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris, one of the top international relations schools in the world.
In this episode, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, sits down with Senator Penny Wong, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, to discuss Australia’s role in shaping the post COVID-19 world.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
On Thursday 30 April, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow and a former Beijing bureau chief for both The Australian and The Financial Times, hosted a live-streamed event with Josh Chin, deputy China bureau chief (in exile) of the Wall Street Journal, Anna Fifield, Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, and Jane Perlez, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times.
China has expelled a record number of foreign journalists in recent months, mostly Americans, but also a number of Australians. Although the expulsions have been part of a tit-for-tat battle between Washington and Beijing over the status of journalists in both countries, they also reflect a tougher attitude to foreign criticism by Beijing, and a more uncompromising foreign policy generally.
In this episode, Roland Rajah, Director, International Economy Program, sits down with Rachel Ziemba, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow, West Asia Program, to discuss the implications of the recent oil price collapse.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In the second episode of The Director's Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Lord Mervyn King about COVID-19, global economic downturn, the UK's response to the virus, Brexit, and what Lord King terms the 'radical uncertainty' of economic forecasting during a global crisis.
Lord King served as the Governor of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013, including the period of the global financial crisis.
In this episode, Natasha Kassam, the Institute's Research Fellow in the Diplomacy and Public Opinion Program, sits down with Joel Negin to discuss the current pressures facing the WHO. Joel has been the Head of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney since 2015.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode, Roland Rajah sits down with the Institute's Director of Research, Alex Oliver, to discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy. Roland is Director of the International Economy Program and the Lowy’s lead international economist.
This episode examines one of the key questions about the economic impact of COVID-19 ̶ whether the shock will be temporary or longer-lasting. Roland explains why he believes the economic fall-out will permanently change the global economy, at least in some respects.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In the first episode of The Director's Chair, a new Lowy Institute podcast, Michael Fullilove speaks with Susan Glasser of The New Yorker and Peter Baker of The New York Times about COVID-19, the Trump administration and America.
Susan Glasser is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes the weekly Letter from Trump’s Washington. Peter Baker is the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times.
The biggest geopolitical rivalry of the 21st century has just been jolted into a new period of uncertainty and risk by the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia’s leading authority on US foreign policy, Dr Michael Fullilove, and senior China analyst, Richard McGregor, examine the implications of this global health and economic emergency for the most important international relationship of our time. Lowy Institute Director of Research Alex Oliver chaired this first-ever Lowy Institute Live event, which was live-streamed and included audience questions.
In this episode, the Director of Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, Ben Bland, sits down with Hervé Lemahieu to discuss geopolitics and the coronavirus pandemic. Hervé is the Director of our Asian Power and Diplomacy Program and an expert in global politics.
In this episode, our Institute experts discuss how coronavirus created a man-made pandemic of mistrust and chaos, which is testing social cohesion and globalisation to its core. Ben and Hervé debate the merits of middle-power diplomacy and discuss whether coronavirus has transformed the world as we know it, or simply exposed the dangers that were already lurking within the international system.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Alex Oliver, sits down with Jonathan Pryke and Shane McLeod to discuss how the crisis of coronavirus is affecting Australia’s immediate neighbour, the Pacific Islands. Jonathan is the Director of our Pacific Islands Program and an expert on politics, economics and development in the Pacific. Shane directs the Lowy Institute’s Australia-PNG Network and was formerly a foreign correspondent in PNG.
In this episode, our Institute experts discuss the current situation in the Pacific, including responses to date by particular governments and leaders; specific risks of coronavirus to the Pacific, including the burden on its health care system and the impact on tourism; widespread fear and misinformation surrounding the virus; and Australia’s role in the global response to coronavirus in the Pacific Islands region.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Ben Bland, Director of our Southeast Asia Program and resident expert on Indonesia’s political system, to discuss the depth of the challenge facing Australia’s largest neighbour and the response from President Joko Widodo.
This episode focuses on how Indonesia, and the rest of Southeast Asia, is faring amid the global pandemic. Our Institute experts discuss the varying political responses across the region, the impending economic crunch and impact of geopolitics.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Alex Oliver, sits down with Richard McGregor, our resident senior China expert and author of several books on China’s politics and government.
This episode focuses on the story of China. Our Institute experts discuss US-China power competition, including the recent expulsion of American journalists from China and Hong Kong, Chinese disinformation and propaganda, something we’ve dubbed the 'geopolitics of infection etymology' and more.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
Today, the liberal democratic model faces its biggest challenge in generations. Since the global financial crisis, democratic systems have faced a crisis of public confidence, and open economies have struggled to deliver the broad-based growth of the past.
At the same time, in a number of nations around the world, an alternative model of ‘techno-authoritarianism’ has emerged in which mass surveillance and artificial intelligence are being used to build systems of social control.
Tim Watts MP addressed the Lowy Institute in Canberra on 27 February 2020 and discussed the ways these competing models of organising society are challenging the health of our democratic institutions – political parties, parliaments, and the media.
After the address, Mr Watts joined Lowy Institute Director for International Security, Sam Roggeveen, for a conversation and Q&A.
In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Alex Oliver, the Institute’s Director of Research; Herve Lemahieu, Director of the our Asian Power and Diplomacy Program; and Roland Rajah, Director of the Institute’s International Economy Program.
They discuss coronavirus anxiety, including #toiletpapergate, panic buying and hoarding; the effect of the virus on public sentiment and the emerging gap in public trust of governments and leaders; vulnerabilities in the international system and the lack of international leadership; and the Australian government’s response, including the $2.4 billion health plan and the $17.6 billion economic stimulus package.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
Today Iraqis find themselves caught in an array of competing forces. Their country is a battleground for foreign actors, from militias to major powers. Their domestic politics are increasingly violent as the state reacts brutally to popular demands for better governance and accountability. Yet we rarely hear Iraqi perspectives on these turbulent events.
One of the Middle East’s leading young political analysts, Hafsa Halawa, and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Anthony Bubalo, discuss how Iraqis see the future of peace and politics in their country and the wider region.
Hafsa Halawa is an independent political and development consultant and a Nonresident Scholar at the Middle East Institute in the United States. Of Egyptian and Iraqi heritage, she has lived and worked across the region for over a decade. Since 2018, she has been working in Iraq on a range of projects aimed at promoting social cohesion, conflict management, and women’s rights.
The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ has gained wide use in recent years, including among the leaders of Australia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. But what does it really mean? The name of a region is as much symbolic as physical – and can be a mental map that guides the decisions of leaders and the narrative of international order, war, and peace.
The Lowy Institute was pleased to host the Sydney launch of a new book by Rory Medcalf, Contest for the Indo-Pacific, which weaves together history, geopolitics, cartography, military strategy, economics, games, and propaganda to examine the rising tensions in the region and address the question of how China’s dominance can be restrained without war.
Professor Rory Medcalf is Head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, with experience as an Australian diplomat and as senior strategic analyst in Australia’s Office of National Assessments. He was the founding director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute, where he remains a Nonresident Fellow.
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted Professor Medcalf for the launch of his new book, followed by a conversation and Q&A.
In this episode, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow and a world expert on the Chinese Communist Party; Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow, expert in China’s domestic politics, and a former Australian diplomat in Beijing; and Ben Bland, director of the Institutes Southeast Asia Program and an expert in China-ASEAN relations.
They discuss the effectiveness of China’s response to coronavirus and its implications for the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping, both internally and on the world stage; the limitations of populism and nationalist governments in responding to threats like coronavirus; increasing support for multilateralism and international cooperation; the effect of coronavirus on the 2020 US Presidential election; and Australia’s response to date.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
Dr James Renwick CSC SC is Australia’s Independent National Security Legislation Monitor. In 2019, he was tasked by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to review the controversial Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth). As Dr Renwick moves to finalise his report of the review, he will discuss possible models for reconciling the legitimate interests of individuals, organisations, and business, and intelligence, police and integrity agencies.
Dr Renwick joined the Lowy Institute for an address, chaired by Lowy Institute Fellow and Middle East security expert Rodger Shanahan.
Dr James Renwick CSC SC is a member of the NSW Bar with a general commercial, regulatory, and public law practice. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Australian National University and has been the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor since 2017.
Last year saw a surge of civil unrest across the globe so widespread that 2019 has been dubbed “the year of the street protestor”. In places as diverse as Hong Kong, Chile, the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, people came together for a variety of causes and grievances. These included demands for economic, racial, and gender equality; the preservation of democracy against a growing authoritarian tide; confronting climate change; opposing corruption; and addressing migration and refugee issues.
Increasingly, it is women-led movements that play an important role in advocacy, activism, and protest around the world, especially in places where authoritarian leaders have come to power. One hallmark of these protests is their breadth: as well as women, they include others marginalised by such regimes. Another is their tendency to be non-violent, which evidence suggests can be as effective at achieving change as violent uprisings.
Accompanying the increased participation of women in activism and protest is their increased representation in politics and media. Women such as Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Maria Ressa, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have arisen in popular consciousness as symbols of moral courage in an era of turbulence.
In celebration of International Women's Day we were joined at the National Gallery of Victoria by: Lydia Khalil, Lowy Institute Research Fellow and Middle East expert (moderator) Louisa Lim, Senior Lecturer in journalism at the University of Melbourne and co-host of The Little Red Podcast Amanda McKenzie, CEO of The Climate Council Nyadol Nyuon, commercial lawyer and community advocate for African Australians for a discussion of this turbulent time.
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world.
In Episode 1, Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Michael Fullilove, sits down with Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow and a world expert on the Chinese Communist Party; Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow, expert in China’s domestic politics, and a former Australian diplomat in Beijing; and Ben Bland, director of the Institutes Southeast Asia Program and an expert in China-ASEAN relations.
They discuss the effectiveness of China’s response to coronavirus and its implications for the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping, both internally and on the world stage; the limitations of populism and nationalist governments in responding to threats like coronavirus; increasing support for multilateralism and international cooperation; the effect of coronavirus on the 2020 US Presidential election; and Australia’s response to date.
The spread of the novel coronavirus in and beyond China has potentially profound implications, for Xi Jinping's standing and China's global weight and prestige. For countries like Australia, the virus has already inflicted a sharp economic shock.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion on the impact of the virus on Australia and the world. Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, hosted the discussion with a panel of experts: Richard Yetsenga, ANZ's Chief Economist; Philippa Jones, Managing Director of China Policy; and Richard McGregor, the Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia.
Richard Yetsenga is the Chief Economist and Head of Research at ANZ. Prior to joining ANZ, he was an economist and strategist at HSBC and Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong.
Philippa Jones is a regulatory and trade policy specialist. She founded China Policy, a strategic advisory firm based in Beijing, and formerly held roles at the EU-China Trade Project and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Richard McGregor is a Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He is the award-winning author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and the recent Lowy Institute Paper Xi Jinping: The Backlash.
In his role as United States Indo-Pacific Commander, Admiral Philip S. Davidson is responsible for military operations in an area that stretches from the waters off the west coast of the United States to the west coast of India, and from the Arctic to the Antarctic – over 200 million square kilometres and more than half the world’s surface. Admiral Davidson is a surface warfare officer who has deployed across the globe in frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. He has also served as the Director of Maritime Operations at US Fleet Forces Command, the senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department, and the Navy’s military aide to the vice president of the United States. Admiral Davidson is a distinguished graduate of the US Naval War College. He assumed command of US Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018.
Following his address, Admiral Davidson joined Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM for a conversation and Q&A.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Institute experts in Melbourne on the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2020.
Managing Editor of The Interpreter Daniel Flitton chaired an expert panel including Dr John Edwards, Senior Fellow in the International Economy Program; Jonathan Pryke, Director of the Pacific Islands Program; Lydia Khalil, Research Fellow in the West Asia Program; and Bonnie Bley, Research Fellow in the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Institute experts in Sydney on the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2020.
Director of Research Alex Oliver chaired an expert panel including Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor; Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program; Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow, West Asia Program; and Shane McLeod, Research Fellow with the Australia-PNG Network.
The new year has seen tensions between the United States and Iran increase to levels rarely seen before. The assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the ballistic missile response from Iran, and then the tragic downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, have yet again focused the world’s attention on this region. The vision of enormous crowds that turned out for Soleimani’s funeral procession, contrasted with the small but vocal crowds in response to Tehran’s shooting down of Flight 752, show how difficult it can be to understand how Iranian society sees the actions of the Iranian and US governments and Iran’s place in the region and the world.
To better understand the situation in Iran and how Iranians view recent events, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan hosted a panel discussion with Dr Amir Mogadam from the University of Newcastle, Mahmoud Pargoo from the Australian Catholic University, and Mrs Azadeh Davachi from Deakin University to discuss the current tensions in the Gulf from US and Iranian policy perspectives.
With the threat of armed conflict looming more seriously over Asia than it has in decades, Oriana Skylar Mastro discussed Asian approaches to diplomacy during war. Professor Mastro’s new book, 'The Costs of Conversation', covers the diplomatic decisions of China and India in past conflicts in Asia and provides signposts for crisis management and conflicts in the future. After a war breaks out, what factors influence states’ decisions to talk to their opponent, and when might their position on wartime diplomacy change? How do we get from only fighting to also talking?
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion moderated by Natasha Kassam, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, to discuss the obstacles to peace talks in wartime.
Professor Oriana Skylar Mastro is an assistant professor of security studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and an officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.
Professor James Goldrick AO CSC is an Adjunct Professor of the University of New South Wales, Visiting Fellow of the Sea Power Centre – Australia, and a Professorial Fellow of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security. He spent 38 years in the Royal Australian Navy, retiring as a two-star Rear Admiral.
The elections in Taiwan in January promise to be one of the region’s most consequential polls in recent decades. With Beijing increasingly vocal about using force to unify the island with China, voters face a choice between a president determined to resist Beijing and an opponent struggling to articulate an alternative. The polls on the self-governing island, which has a pivotal role in high-tech global value chains, are also taking place in the shadow of protests in Hong Kong and growing US–China tensions. In the lead-up, Beijing has been taking a leaf out of the Russian playbook by overtly and covertly influencing Taiwan’s local media and community groups.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about Taiwan’s upcoming elections, the implications for cross-straits relations and Taiwan’s future.
Thomas J. Christensen is Professor of Public and International Affairs and Director of the China and the World Program at Columbia University and previously handled China and Taiwan in the US State Department. Natasha Kassam is a Research Fellow in the Diplomacy and Public Opinion Program at the Lowy Institute and a former Australian diplomat in Beijing. Dr Roger Lee Huang is a Lecturer at Macquarie University. His research includes the history of Taiwan–China relations and he has worked for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party.
The event was chaired by Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow and award-winning author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and the recent Lowy Institute Paper Xi Jinping: The Backlash.
Australia faces no more difficult international challenge than managing its relationship with the People’s Republic of China, our largest trading partner and a peer competitor of our great ally the United States.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott gave an address on China, followed by a Q&A session chaired by Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
The Hon. Tony Abbott was the 28th Prime Minister of Australia, holding that office from 2013 to 2015. Before being elected prime minister, Mr Abbott served as the leader of the opposition, a minister in the Howard government, and the member for Warringah.
Hyperpartisan and foreign-state sponsored disinformation targeted at voters through social media is undermining democracy and interfering with elections from the US to India, from Indonesia to Taiwan. Authoritarian adversaries, partisan domestic actors, and weak democratic governments are using the platforms and the extensive data they hold on individuals to manipulate voters and spread false narratives. The implications for the health of democracies everywhere are troubling. And with the US Presidential election looming in 2020, many argue that not enough is being done to halt the spread of deliberately false and misleading information. How can democracies fight back?
Kelsey Munro, host of the Lowy Institute's Rules Based Audio podcast, together with Katherine Mansted from the ANU’s National Security College and Harvard’s Belfer Center, and Lowy Institute Southeast Asia Project Director Ben Bland, had a thought-provoking discussion on democracy in the disinformation age.
Katherine Mansted is a Senior Adviser at the ANU National Security College and a Nonresident fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center. Her research and policy analysis focuses on emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and international relations. Her publications cover information warfare, cyber-enabled foreign interference, and internet privacy. Katherine previously practiced law and served as a ministerial adviser in the Australian government.
Ben Bland is the director of the Southeast Asia project at the Lowy Institute. Ben’s personal research interests span politics, economics, and diplomacy across Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, as well as China’s growing role in the region. Ben is an award-winning former foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, with postings in Hanoi, Hong Kong, and Jakarta.
The Lowy Institute hosted the Aus–PNG Network Melbourne social evening at the State Library of Victoria.
Opening remarks for the evening were delivered by Mr Bruce Davis, Australian High Commissioner to PNG.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Shane McLeod chaired a panel discussion, 'PNG-Australia Education Links: Empowering girls and women in science and technology'.
The panel included:
Mary Mulcahy (AUS), Director, Education and Outreach for CSIRO Edea Bouraga (PNG), Mechanical Engineer and current chair of Women in Engineering. Sarah Chapman (AUS), Head of Science, Townsville State High School. Nylah Torova (PNG), PNG student at Rockhampton Girls Grammar School.
Mr Sakias Tameo, PNG Deputy High Commissioner to Australia, gave closing remarks.
The Aus–PNG Network is a Lowy Institute project aimed at strengthening people-to-people links between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Lowy Institute acknowledges the ongoing support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Aus–PNG Network.
Since 2012 several hundred Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to undertake jihad with Islamic State, al-Qaeda or other radical Islamist groups. Dozens more supported them financially or in the planning of attacks. There are many preconceptions about the types of people in Australia attracted to jihad, but there has been little data publicly available on which to base these assumptions. For the first time, Lowy Institute Fellow Rodger Shanahan has collected and analysed data on 173 individuals known to have joined radical Islamist terrorist organisations or who have been charged with terrorism offences. This new analysis provides comprehensive information on the backgrounds of Australians who have undertaken jihad, which will enhance our understanding of the typologies and motivations of those who are likely to be attracted to similar messaging in the future.
Rodger Shanahan had a conversation with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Kelsey Munro to discuss this unique analysis of the Australian terrorist scene.
“The fog of Australian politics on climate change has obscured a fateful reality: Australia has the potential to be an economic superpower of the future post-carbon world,” argues Dr Ross Garnaut in his new book Superpower: Australia’s low-carbon opportunity.
The Lowy Institute hosted a conversation between Dr Garnaut and Roland Rajah, Director of the Lowy Institute International Economy Program, about the role Australia can play in meeting this critical global challenge.
Ross Garnaut is Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. In 2008, he produced the Garnaut Climate Change Review for the Australian government. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Dog Days (2013).
The Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen has written a provocative new book, 'Our Very Own Brexit', arguing that the political conditions which created Brexit also exist in Australia. But forget what you have read about populism and the rise of right-wing xenophobia. What Australia has in common with Britain and other Western democracies is something we rarely talk about: the steady decline of our big political parties. The ‘hollowed out’ state of contemporary politics could lead one of our political parties to exploit an issue that ties Australia to Asia and which will determine our future security: immigration.
The Lowy Institute hosted an in-conversation event with Sam and award-winning journalist George Megalogenis to mark the launch of 'Our Very Own Brexit'.
Sam Roggeveen is Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. Sam writes for newspapers, magazines, and websites around the world about Australian politics, foreign policy, and defence policy. He is the founding editor of the Lowy Institute’s digital magazine, 'The Interpreter'.
This event was presented by Lowy Institute at the NGV.
As the United Kingdom faces a divisive but potentially decisive election framed around Brexit, the European Union is contemplating a future without the UK.
If British voters back Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit plan, what sort of future relationship will the EU look to build with the UK? What will be the impact on Ireland and Northern Ireland? And how will Brexit affect Australia's ties with the EU?
If the opposition triumphs, what are the chances that Brexit could be reversed and the UK's relationship with the EU reset?
Ben Bland, the Director of the Lowy Institute's Southeast Asia Project, had a conversation with Pat Cox, former European Parliament President, on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and its implications for the Union, the UK, and Ireland.
Pat Cox served three terms in the European Parliament, and was President of the Parliament from 2002 to 2004. Prior to entering the European Parliament, he served in Ireland’s national parliament and worked in academia and the media. He is currently President of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe.
In March 2019, Islamic State officially lost its caliphate. The last remaining sliver of territory under its control was overtaken by Coalition forces, and US President Donald Trump declared the militant group “100% defeated”.
Yet Islamic State remains defiant. Its reclusive leader has made two public pronouncements encouraging his followers since the fall of the caliphate. It retains affiliate networks around the world, and in the wake of its defeat, it committed one of the largest terrorist attacks ever – the Easter Bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
But what does Islamic State mean without its caliphate, and in what ways does the organisation still pose a global threat? How are we to deal with the thousands of supporters, mostly women, who remain held with their children in camps run by Syrian Democratic Forces? How has Islamic State managed to maintain its presence in Asia while it has lost its caliphate? Has Asia become a new growth area for the group after its decline in the Middle East?
Daniel Flitton, the Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute's digital magazine, The Interpreter, discussed these questions and more with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil, following her latest analysis on the future of Islamic State.
What made America a great power? What is Trump doing to weaken America on the global stage, and what must the US do to revive its global leadership after the Trump presidency?
Distinguished American diplomat Nicholas Burns, the Lowy Institute’s 2019 Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow, gave a speech at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne
Nicholas Burns is a Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and served for 27 years in the US Foreign Service. Ambassador Burns was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, US Ambassador to NATO for President George W Bush and to Greece for President Bill Clinton, and State Department spokesman for Secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.
On October 10, the Lowy Institute hosted Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte for a public address.
Mr Rutte spoke about the future of the global rules-based order. Following his speech the Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove conducted a Q&A session with Mr Rutte.
Described by the BBC as a “modest but steely liberal”, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte is an important figure in European politics. He has been at the centre of Europe’s Brexit negotiations with the UK, has led the Netherlands’ response to the Malaysia Airlines MH-17 tragedy, in which 193 Dutch citizens and 27 Australians lost their lives, and he has witnessed and fought the rise of populist parties in Dutch elections. He has served as Prime Minister since 2010.
How should the US and Australia plan for a future of both strategic competition and cooperation with China? How do we get the balance between them right?
The distinguished American diplomat Nicholas Burns, the Lowy Institute’s 2019 Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow, addressed these questions in the 2019 Owen Harries Lecture.
The annual Owen Harries Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia.
Nicholas Burns is a Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and served for 27 years in the US Foreign Service. Ambassador Burns was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, US Ambassador to NATO for President George W Bush and to Greece for President Bill Clinton, and State Department spokesman for Secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.
The Lowy Institute acknowledges the generous support of Rothschild & Co for the Fellowship.
Australia finds itself in an increasingly precarious position. The relationship between Australia’s traditional ally, the United States, and its largest trading partner, China, continues its precipitous decline. Four out of Australia’s top five trading partners are embroiled in trade wars, and a global economic slowdown is underway. At the same time, Beijing’s deepening embrace of authoritarianism and expanding global ambitions continue to rattle Australia’s regional allies and partners.
As our political leaders grapple with new and daunting foreign policy challenges, what do Australians think about the world? The Lowy Institute Poll has surveyed Australians on their views for the past 15 years. In the span of a generation, the Poll has uncovered striking changes in public opinion about Australia’s most important neighbours and partners as well as the challenges to national security and prosperity.
What is driving these changing views? And how should our political leaders respond?
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Natasha Kassam, Director of the 2019 Lowy Institute Poll; Greg Sheridan, foreign editor for The Australian; Dr Danielle Chubb, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Deakin University, and David Olsson, former Managing Partner of international law firm King & Wood Mallesons; moderated by Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine, The Interpreter.
This event was presented by Lowy Institute at the NGV.
The Pacific Islands region has vaulted back to the centre of Australian foreign policy thinking. Prime Minister Morrison has positioned Australia’s “step up” in the region as his signature foreign-policy initiative. Other governments have responded with their own “redial”, “pivot”, “uplift”, and “elevation” plans.
Much of this reaction is being driven by China’s rise, with analysts fearing China will try to leverage its influence – be it debt, diplomacy, or trade – to achieve strategic outcomes, including setting up a military base. Great power competition has returned to the Pacific.
Foreign aid is often the first tool used by nations to engage in this vulnerable region. Each year, more than US$2 billion in foreign aid is invested in the Pacific from more than 60 donors. But aid is often opaque and hard to trace, lacks detail, and is difficult to access. The Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map fills this gap, providing an analytical too that collates and analyses data on all aid projects in the Pacific.
This event launched the second-year update of the map, which incorporates new data and new functionality, and presented new analysis of Chinese debt diplomacy and its impact on debt sustainability in the Pacific.
Lowy Institute researchers discussed what’s new in the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map, and what it can tell us about the broader geopolitical developments playing out in Australia’s immediate region.
Jonathan Pryke is Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program. Alexandre Dayant is a Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program, and lead researcher of the Pacific Aid Map. Roland Rajah is Director of the Lowy Institute International Economy Program. The discussion was moderated by Lowy Institute Research Fellow Natasha Kassam.
The news today is dominated by trade issues in a way not seen since perhaps the clash between the United States and Japan in the 1980s. The headlines point to a trade war between the United States and China, and strained trade relations between South Korea and Japan. The trading system has not delivered new multilateral agreements during the last five years. The WTO dispute-settlement system appears to be breaking down. It appears to be getting easier to depart from international agreements.
What is the current status of these issues, how do they affect the operations of the WTO, and what (if any) is the good news? What can be achieved by June 2020, when the next formal WTO ministerial meeting will be held? What is the long-term picture for multilateralism? Are regional arrangements going to be the new architecture of the trading system? Is the pendulum swinging permanently away from global value chains?
The Lowy Institute hosted Alan Wolff, Deputy Director-General of the WTO, for a discussion of the risks and opportunities facing world trade at this decisive moment.
Mr Wolff became WTO Deputy Director-General in October 2017, after a long career in international trade, including as chief trade lawyer of the US executive branch, Chairman of the National Foreign Trade Council, as a senior US trade negotiator, and private law practitioner. He has served and advised both Republican and Democratic administrations in the US.
Intensifying strategic competition between the US and China is having ramifications around the globe. The risk of military conflict is growing in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Global economic growth is slowing, and supply chains are shifting. China and Russia are forging closer ties in response to commonly perceived threats. Will US-China competition abate or increase? How can Australia best navigate these dangerous shoals?
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Bonnie Glaser gave a speech, followed by a Q&A with Michael Fullilove, the Institute’s Executive Director.
Bonnie Glaser is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she directs the CSIS China Power Project. Ms Glaser is an expert on Chinese foreign and security policy, and has served as a consultant for several US government agencies including the Departments of Defense and State. Ms Glaser has published widely in academic journals such as Washington Quarterly and International Security as well as leading newspapers including the New York Times and International Herald Tribune.
The last wave of globalisation delivered enormous economic benefits. But the massive social disruption and displacement fell disproportionately on less-skilled workers, helping to spawn the current populist revolt. The next wave of globalisation, however, might prove different, as emerging technologies combine with global economic forces to create a whole new set of opportunities and challenges.
Richard Baldwin, one of the world's leading globalisation experts, argues that the inhuman speed of this transformation threatens to overwhelm our capacity to adapt. Digital technology is allowing talented foreigners to telecommute into our workplaces and compete for service and professional jobs. Instant machine translation is melting language barriers, so the ranks of these "tele-migrants" will soon include almost every educated person in the world. The combination of globalisation and rising automation means the next wave of disruption could risk a globotics upheaval that threatens the very foundations of the liberal welfare state.
Professor Baldwin gave a talk on his new book, 'The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work.'
You can purchase copies of 'The Globotics Upheaval' from Booktopia, Amazon AU and Hachette Australia.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was decisively re-elected in April but his second, and final, term in office looks set to be anything but plain sailing. The election revealed deep divides in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, with politics polarised along religious lines. The economy remains sluggish despite promises of structural reforms to unlock rapid growth. And Indonesia’s democratic system, long seen as a beacon of progress, is facing intensifying challenges, from crackdowns on free speech to a deterioration in the protection of minority rights.
The Indonesia Update has been an annual event held by the Australian National University in Canberra since 1983; this panel discussion was part of the 14th abbreviated Sydney edition held by the Lowy Institute.
Dr Eve Warburton is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute. Dr Warburton received her PhD in 2018 from the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia and Pacific Affairs, where she researched the political economy of economic nationalism in Indonesia’s natural resource industries.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, State Islamic University, Jakarta. He is also an executive director of Indonesian Political Indicator and Director of Public Affairs at Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).
Dr Martin Daniel Siyaranamual is an applied microeconomist with broad empirical interests. He earned a doctoral degree in economics from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Padjadjaran University, where he is also a lecturer at the department of economics.
The discussion was chaired by Ben Bland, the Director of the Lowy Institute's Southeast Asia Project.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was decisively re-elected in April but his second, and final, term in office looks set to be anything but plain sailing. The election revealed deep divides in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, with politics polarised along religious lines. The economy remains sluggish despite promises of structural reforms to unlock rapid growth. And Indonesia’s democratic system, long seen as a beacon of progress, is facing intensifying challenges, from crackdowns on free speech to a deterioration in the protection of minority rights.
The Indonesia Update has been an annual event held by the Australian National University in Canberra since 1983; this panel discussion was part of the 14th abbreviated Sydney edition held by the Lowy Institute.
Edward Aspinall is a professor in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. He is a specialist in the politics of Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.
Nava Nuraniyah has been an analyst the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) since 2015, and her research interests include political Islam as well as the evolution of extremism in South East Asia, including the role of women.
The discussion was chaired by Ben Bland, the Director of the Lowy Institute's Southeast Asia Project.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) is charged with protecting Australia and its citizens from terrorism, foreign interference, espionage, sabotage, and politically motivated violence.
ASIO Director-General Duncan Lewis gave a public address at the Lowy Institute, followed by a Q&A with the Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove.
Duncan Lewis has served as the Director-General of Security since 2014. Mr Lewis served in the Australian Defence Force for 33 years, including as commander of the Special Air Service Regiment and Major General, Special Operations Commander Australia.
Since 2005, Mr Lewis has served in a number of Australian Public Service roles, including assistant secretary of the National Security Division within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia’s inaugural National Security Adviser, and Australia’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union, and NATO. Mr Lewis was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005.
Modern technologies offer enormous opportunities for police and for criminals. Most crimes have a digital element. Rapid technological advances have led to new tools such as facial recognition, camera-equipped drones, and fingerprint scanners. These advances provide enormous amounts of data to be assessed and interpreted, generating a role for artificial intelligence in modern policing. They also create new tensions between protection of citizens’ safety and protecting personal data, as well as presenting a multitude of challenges for police leaders, policy makers, and those who hold the police to account.
Cressida Dick was appointed UK Commissioner of Police in 2017, the first female commissioner in the history of the Metropolitan Police. She leads the United Kingdom’s largest police service, having served as a police officer for most of her 35-year career.
Anna Fifield, a long-time foreign correspondent, is one of the most knowledgeable journalists writing about North Korea, a nation that has largely walled itself off to outsiders. In her new book, 'The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un,' she draws on her dozen-plus trips to the country to penetrate the layers of myth and propaganda surrounding the young leader and his nuclear arsenal. Fifield has gained rare access to Kim’s inner circle (including the aunt and uncle who posed as his parents while he was growing up in Switzerland, members of the entourage that accompanied basketballer Dennis Rodman on his visits, and the Japanese sushi chef who pointed to Kim as the most likely successor to his father) to give a detailed and insightful portrait of one of the world’s most secretive dictators. Fifield, the Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post and former Seoul correspondent for The Financial Times, had a conversation with Richard McGregor, a Lowy Institute Senior Fellow.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Bobo Lo and Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove discussed key themes in Russian domestic and foreign policy, including the stability of the Putin regime, the issue of political succession, and Moscow’s growing activism in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He is an independent analyst and an Associate Research Fellow with the Russia/NIS Center at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). He was previously Head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Moscow. Dr Lo’s most recent book, A Wary Embrace: What the China-Russia Relationship Means for the World, was published as a Lowy Institute Paper by Penguin in 2017. His book Russia and the New World Disorder (2015) was described by The Economist as ‘the best attempt yet to explain Russia’s unhappy relationship with the rest of the world’.
The Lowy Institute hosted a discussion with esteemed archaeologist and historian Professor Ian Morris on the forces that drove the rise of the West to global dominance in the 16th–19th centuries and those that now propel China. The Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen chaired this conversation on the patterns of history and what they reveal about the future.
Ian Morris is Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics and a Senior Fellow of the Archaeology Center at Stanford University. He has published 13 books, including Why the West Rules – For Now (2010), War! What Is It Good For? (2014), and most recently Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve (2015). He is currently writing a book about Britain’s relations with Europe and the wider world across the last 8000 years. His books have been translated into 16 languages.
It is two decades since a bloody secessionist conflict on Bougainville was settled – first in a truce, and then in a peace agreement that deferred the question of the region’s future political status.
In 2019, that question will be answered when the people of Bougainville vote on whether to become independent from Papua New Guinea.
Ben Bohane is a photojournalist who has covered Asia and the Pacific for the past 30 years. He reported on Bougainville throughout the conflict and in the years since. He travelled to the Autonomous Region for a forthcoming Lowy Institute research paper to find out how the people of Bougainville are preparing for the coming referendum.
The Lowy Institute hosted Ben Bohane for a conversation with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Shane McLeod, to discuss the prospects of a new nation being formed on Australia’s doorstep.
The withdrawal by the Trump administration from the Obama-era nuclear deal (known as the JCPOA) and the subsequent campaign of ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran by the United States in an effort to get a better deal from Tehran, has raised regional tensions to near boiling point. Five ships have been attacked in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, a US drone shot down by an Iranian missile, and an Iranian and UK tanker seized. The war of words between Washington and Tehran has been escalating week by week. And the European states have been busy trying to keep the JCPOA alive rather than signing up to President Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign.
It is a difficult policy problem to resolve and even more difficult to gauge how the current American policy is seen by Iranians given the difficulty in gaining press access. In order to provide some insight into these questions, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan hosted a panel with Dr Amir Mogadam from the University of Newcastle, Mahmoud Pargoo from the Australian Catholic University and Dr Gorana Grgic from the University of Sydney to discuss the current tensions in the Gulf from US and Iranian policy perspectives.
Hong Kong is facing the deepest political crisis since it was handed back to China by the United Kingdom in 1997. The partially autonomous Chinese territory has been shaken by weeks of huge democracy protests, and violent clashes between activists, the police and supporters of the Chinese Government. The spark for the latest tensions was a now-suspended bill that would have allowed Hong Kongers to be extradited to mainland China. But the protests are being driven by opposition to Beijing’s intensifying pressure on the freedoms and autonomy that were promised to the city for 50 years from 1997.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about the causes of this crisis, the implications for this global financial centre, and the impact on China’s place in the world.
Lai-Ha Chan is a Senior Lecturer in the Social and Political Sciences Program at the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. She studies China’s international relations and its place in the global order. Before coming to Australia to conduct her PhD research, she worked for the Hong Kong Government.
Jared Fu is a university student and democracy activist from Hong Kong who helped organise the recent protest in Sydney against the extradition bill.
Ben Bland is the Director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute and a former correspondent for the Financial Times in Hong Kong. He is the author of Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow, which tells the stories of the young Hong Kongers on the frontlines of the city’s struggle for freedom.
The discussion was chaired by Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow and leading expert on China’s political system and Asian geopolitics. He is the award-winning author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century.
Australia, along with many other Western countries, has a strong interest in the ongoing stability of Afghanistan. Not only in the sunk cost in collective blood and treasure but also because we have seen how semi-governed territory provides opportunities for jihadists to plan and train for attacks against the West.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan had a discussion with Christine Fair about the future security prospects for Afghanistan and the challenges it faces not only internally but also externally from regional actors advancing their own strategic agendas.
Christine Fair is a Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor in the Security Studies Program within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She previously served as a senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation, a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in Kabul, and a senior research associate at the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention at the United States Institute of Peace.
On August 8, the Lowy Institute held the Sydney launch of the latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia, Xi Jinping: The Backlash by Richard McGregor.
China’s president Xi Jinping has transformed China at home and abroad with a speed and assertiveness that few foresaw when he came to power in 2012. Finally, he is meeting resistance, both at home among disgruntled officials and disillusioned technocrats, and abroad from an emerging group of nations that are pushing back against China’s geopolitical and high-tech expansion. With the United States and China at loggerheads, Richard McGregor outlined Xi’s rise, and the backlash.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, is a leading expert on China’s political system and Asian geopolitics. He is the award-winning author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century.
The Lowy Institute Paper launch and in-conversation was with Richard McGregor and Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, followed by a Q&A.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave a public address at the Lowy Institute on 7 August 2019.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the world’s most important military alliance. Now in its 70th year NATO remains a lynchpin of the liberal world order.
Jens Stoltenberg is NATO’s Secretary General, the alliance’s chief civil servant, responsible for coordinating the work of the organisation.
He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013. He was appointed NATO’s 13th Secretary General in 2014 and his term has been extended until 2022.
On August 5, the Lowy Institute held the Melbourne launch of the latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia, Xi Jinping: The Backlash by Richard McGregor.
China’s president Xi Jinping has transformed China at home and abroad with a speed and assertiveness that few foresaw when he came to power in 2012. Finally, he is meeting resistance, both at home among disgruntled officials and disillusioned technocrats, and abroad from an emerging group of nations that are pushing back against China’s geopolitical and high-tech expansion. With the United States and China at loggerheads, Richard McGregor outlined Xi’s rise, and the backlash.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, is a leading expert on China’s political system and Asian geopolitics. He is the award-winning author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century.
The Lowy Institute Paper launch and in-conversation was with Richard McGregor and Research Fellow Lydia Khalil and was followed by a Q&A.
This event was presented by Lowy Institute at the NGV.
All Lowy Institute public events are on the record and open for media attendance.
On 30 May 2019, James Marape was sworn in as the eighth Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Securing the votes of almost 90 per cent of PNG’s Parliament, Mr Marape has a broad mandate for change following eight years of a Peter O’Neill-led government.
The challenges facing the Marape government remain the same. The economy is struggling, and expectations are high for curbing corruption and improving service delivery. With 16 months until a vote of no confidence motion can resume, and three years until a new election, Mr Marape has limited time to deliver on the expectations of his people.
The Hon James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, gave an address on his vision for the new PNG government, and where the PNG–Australia relationship fits within it.
James Marape has served as a Member of Parliament representing the electorate of Tari-Pori Open in Hela Province since 2007. He served as Education Minister from 2008 to 2011 and Finance Minister from 2012 to 2019.
Global wealth and power are shifting eastwards, changing the way the region – and indeed the world – works politically and strategically. Lowy Institute Program Director Hervé Lemahieu, the principal researcher behind the Asia Power Index, and Bonnie Bley, Research Fellow, gave a visual and analytical presentation of the changing distribution of power in Asia. The event marked the Australian launch of the 2019 Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, the largest study of power in the region ever undertaken. Find out how countries in the region perform in terms of what they have, and what they do with what they have. This was followed by a discussion of the Index’s findings and their implications for the changing political economy, military balance, and diplomatic networks of Asia.
About the 2019 Asia Power Index: The annual Lowy Institute Asia Power Index evaluates 25 countries and territories across 126 indicators divided into eight thematic measures of power: military capability and defence networks, economic resources and relationships, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future resources. The Index is made available through a specially designed digital platform, at power.lowyinstitute.org.
Hervé Lemahieu is Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute. Hervé leads the research for the annual Asia Power Index – launched by the Institute in 2018 – and developed the project methodology to map the changing distribution of power in the region. Hervé joined Lowy from the International Institute for Strategic Studies and was previously a consultant at Oxford Analytica. Hervé has an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford, and an MA with first-class honours in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St Andrews.
Bonnie Bley is a Research Fellow for the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute and one of the principal researchers behind the Asia Power Index. Bonnie also leads the research on the Global Diplomacy Index, a digital project which maps the diplomatic networks of 60 countries. Bonnie joined the Institute from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and studied at University College London (UCL) and the University of Bologna.
The Lowy Institute hosted one of Australia’s most provocative public commentators, Professor Hugh White. Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor chaired a discussion on Professor White’s new book, How to Defend Australia. Over the past decade, Professor White has set the agenda of Australia’s China debate. This book will do the same for defence policy.
Hugh White AO is Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University and author of The China Choice and the Quarterly Essay 39, Power Shift. He has served as an intelligence analyst with the Office of National Assessments, as a senior adviser to Defence Minister Kim Beazley and to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and as a senior official in the Department of Defence, where from 1995 to 2000 he was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, is a leading expert on China’s political system and Australia’s relations with Asia. He is the author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century. His Lowy Institute Paper, Xi Jinping: The Backlash, will be published in late July.
One year after the corruption-tainted government of Najib Razak was ousted in a stunning electoral upset, sentiment in Malaysia has turned from elation to frustration. The motley coalition led by Mahathir Mohamad, the 93-year-old former and now new prime minister, has been weighed down by in-fighting. There are growing fears that he is backsliding on promises to roll back draconian laws and reinvigorate the sluggish economy.
Is Mahathir really a changed man? Will his government be subsumed by internal battles? And how will he manage growing US–China rivalry and simmering tensions with neighbouring Singapore?
Two leading experts on Malaysian politics, Professor James Chin and Dr Vilashini Somiah, and the Director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Project, Ben Bland, discussed these pressing questions and more.
Professor James Chin is Director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania. He is a leading commentator on Malaysian politics and has published extensively on Malaysia and the surrounding region. He is the author of a recent Lowy Institute paper, New Malaysia: Four Key Challenges in the Near Term. He has written and edited several books on Southeast Asian politics including Malaysia Post-Mahathir: A Decade of Change?.
Dr Vilashini Somiah is the Head of Research at Iman, a think-tank in Kuala Lumpur that focuses on community engagement. It is known for its research on preventing violent extremism, socio-religious trends and public perceptions. Vila has a PhD in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore. Her academic work focused on irregular cross-border migrants on the island of Borneo and their struggle against state power.
This event was part of the ASEAN–Australia Visiting Fellows Program at the Lowy Institute, which is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia–ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Indian general election is the world’s biggest exercise in democracy, with 900 million eligible voters. The election has been held in seven phases since 11 April, and results were declared on 23 May. Prime Minister and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party Narendra Modi has been elected for a second term.
India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi has divided analysts. Some believe India’s foreign policy has undergone a remarkable transformation, others argue Modi has merely repackaged the policies of his predecessors. Under Modi, the quad alliance with Japan, Australia and the United States has been resuscitated, although he has pursued a ‘neighbourhood first’ focus in foreign policy. On the border with Pakistan, tensions have escalated to the level of nuclear threat. Bilateral relations with China are a balancing act.
Professor Harsh V Pant, Director of Studies and Head of the Strategic Studies Programme at New Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation, gave an address on the future of India’s foreign policy in the wake of Prime Minister Modi’s re-election.
Professor Harsh V Pant is an influential and prolific foreign, defence and strategic policy writer and thinker. His latest book, Indian Foreign Policy: The Modi Era, was launched in April 2019 by India’s former Foreign Secretary, Dr S Jaishankar. Professor Pant visited as a guest of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of its Canberra Fellowships Program.
The Lowy Institute was pleased to host the Hon Kevin Rudd for a discussion on Xi Jinping’s China and the new era of strategic competition with the United States across trade, technology, and geopolitics. Mr Rudd served as Australia’s prime minister and foreign minister, lived in China as a diplomat, has studied the country’s history, politics, and language over many years, and has dealt with the leaders of the ruling Communist Party at the most senior levels.
Mr Rudd, who now leads the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, had a conversation with Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia. They were also joined by Chris Johnson, senior adviser and Freeman Chair of China Studies at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Mr Johnson previously served as a CIA analyst for China.
This event was presented in partnership with the Asia Society.
Since September 11, Australia has enacted over 80 counterterrorism and national security laws. The laws are often controversial although usually passed quickly through Parliament.
The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) reports on whether such laws are necessary, proportionate to the threats that caused them to be enacted, and comply with human rights standards and international law obligations. The role has been described as “an important and valued component of Australia’s national security architecture”.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan had a conversation with the current Monitor, Dr James Renwick SC, where they discussed the role of the INSLM and two laws under his review: the so-called ‘encryption laws’ that allow security agencies to access encrypted messages; and the laws that lead to automatic loss of citizenship by dual citizens who engage in acts of terrorism.
Dr James Renwick SC is a member of the NSW Bar with a general commercial and public law practice, and particular interests in appellate, disciplinary, national security and inquiry work. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Australian National University and since 2017 has been the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.
When Vladimir Putin was re-elected as Russian president in 2018, his position as the dominant personality of the post-Soviet era was enshrined. In his 15 years as president over two terms, he has established himself as the strongman of a resurgent great power. He has been unrelenting in the pursuit of core goals: the consolidation of political authority at home; and the promotion of Russia as an indispensable power.
Eminent Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats had a conversation with the Director of the Lowy Institute’s Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, Hervé Lemahieu, about Russian politics and what it means for the rest of the world.
Yevgenia Albats is a Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, author and radio host. She is Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The New Times, a Moscow-based, Russian language independent political weekly. She is also the host of Absolute Albats, a talk show on Echo Moskvy, the only remaining liberal radio station in Russia. She was an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow assigned to the Chicago Tribune in 1990, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1993. She graduated from Moscow State University in 1980 and received her PhD in Political Science from Harvard University in 2004.
Dr Albats visited Australia with the support of the University of Melbourne.
The foreign policy of Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, has often been judged as beholden to Britain and the United States. Under Menzies, however, Australia took some steps towards a more independent role for Australia in foreign policy. Key initiatives include the signing of the ANZUS Treaty, the Colombo Plan and the Australia–Japan Commerce Agreement. Troy Bramston’s latest biography, Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics, reveals a wealth of new information about the Menzies years, including his role in the Suez crisis.
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove had a conversation with Troy Bramston, where they explored Menzies’ foreign policy successes and missteps and the lessons they may yield for Australian foreign policy in the future.
Troy Bramston is a senior writer and columnist with The Australian and is the author or editor of nine books on Australian politics and political biography. His new biography, Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics, was published in April 2019.
In Remaking the Middle East, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Anthony Bubalo argued that despite continuing turmoil in the region the future of the Middle East was not inevitably bleak. Amid the ferment the region has experienced over the past decade and a half he also pointed to ‘green shoots’ of change: from new forms of ‘uncivil’ society driving social and political change to ‘impious’ politics, making societies more tolerant and pluralist.
But one year on, are these green shoots maturing into more sturdy features of the region? Or are they being killed and uprooted by the region’s revived authoritarianism? Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil discussed these and other questions with the author.
Anthony Bubalo is a Principal at Nous Group, a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute, and a commentator on Middle Eastern politics and global affairs.
Lydia Khalil is a Research Fellow in the West Asia Program at the Lowy Institute and Director of Arcana Partners, a political and security consulting firm. She is a specialist in Middle Eastern politics and terrorism and has published widely on her areas of expertise.
Through the course of Xi Jinping’s presidency, China has been working to shape an alternative version of the internet – one in which the party state asserts its cyber sovereignty through an extensive censorship apparatus. Many foreign news sources are blocked at the border, and sensitive topics are censored. At a time when open societies are grappling with how to manage the downsides of a free internet such as hate speech and extremist material, other nations are embracing China’s restrictive practices.
Hong Kong-based CNN International technology reporter and author of The Great Firewall of China James Griffiths, New York Times reporter Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, Lowy Institute Research Fellow and former Beijing-based diplomat Natasha Kassam, had a discussion with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Kelsey Munro, to explore the history, politics and reality of online censorship in China, and the consequences of an authoritarian internet for the rest of the world.
China’s economic future is more uncertain than ever. Challenges have mounted on multiple fronts, including slowing growth, rising financial risks, and increasingly difficult external relations, not least with the United States.
Lowy Institute International Economy Program Director Roland Rajah hosted a conversation with one of the world’s foremost experts on the Chinese economy, Dr Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Dr Lardy will present the findings from his latest book, arguing that China’s future growth prospects could remain as bright as they were in the past, but are overshadowed by the spectre of resurgent state dominance.
More than a decade since the global financial crisis, economic thinking has continued to evolve, shaped by the harsh realities of recent experience. With global economic governance also under pressure and potentially fraying, the kind of cooperation needed to contain potential crises and sustain global economic prosperity is vastly more difficult and uncertain. What are the key lessons from the 2008 crisis and what does this mean for managing future economic crises?
Lowy Institute International Economy Program Director Roland Rajah and Professor Maurice Obstfeld, former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund and Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, discussed the latest economic thinking on the future of the global economy and where policymaking is headed.
After a coup, a new constitution and a controversial election, Thailand’s political future remains as uncertain as ever. The general election in March, the first since the 2014 coup, was marred by allegations of irregularities and the election commission will not announce the final results until May. In the meantime, the commission has brought sedition charges against the leader of a pro-democracy party that did better than expected in the election.
Thailand is stuck in a protracted seesaw between democracy and military rule. How will the final election results affect this balance? What role, if any, will King Vajiralongkorn play in determining Thailand’s future trajectory after his coronation in May? And how will the political impasse impact Thailand’s chairmanship of ASEAN this year?
Leading Thai political scientist Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak and Director of Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Project Ben Bland had a discussion on what happens next in one of Southeast Asia’s most volatile nations.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak is Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies and Associate Professor of International Political Economy at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Thitinan’s visit to Australia is part of the ASEAN–Australia Visiting Fellows Program at the Lowy Institute, which is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia–ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
This event was presented by the Lowy Institute at the NGV
The attacks on Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch, in which 50 people lost their lives, represent the deadliest mass killing in New Zealand’s modern history and the worst terrorist attacks ever carried out by an Australian. The events of 15 March have already prompted large-scale gun reform in New Zealand as well as a Royal Commission into the attacks. More broadly, the attacks have prompted reflection on violent extremism in all its forms – including the kind perpetrated by the far right – and on the nature of far-right extremism as a global movement.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion which looked at what changes are required at the policy and law enforcement levels to reduce the risk of extremist attacks; whether the Christchurch attack is linked to other far-right and white supremacist movements around the world; the nature of reciprocal extremism and how jihadism and far-right extremism may amplify each other; how online environments contribute to radicalisation; and how the Australian far right fits into the global picture.
The panel featured: Professor Michele Grossman, Research Chair in Diversity and Community Resilience, Alfred Deakin Institute Dr Kristy Campion, Lecturer in Terrorism Studies, Charles Sturt University Dr David Smith, Senior Lecturer in American Politics and Foreign Policy, United States Studies Centre Lydia Khalil, Lowy Institute Research Fellow, Director of political and security consulting firm Arcana Partners, and specialist in Middle Eastern politics and terrorism (moderator)
Since the start of the Syrian civil war, up to 200 Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with jihadist groups, and dozens more have been charged with terrorism offences in Australia. The legal process against jihadists in Australia and those returning from overseas will continue for years to come. Foreign fighters claim that they simply provided humanitarian assistance or did not fight, and domestic terrorists often blame mental health issues for their acts. Yet little is known publicly about their true motivations, how they organised themselves, what role mental health has really played in their actions, how contrite they have been, and how likely they are to be rehabilitated.
Research Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan has written widely on foreign fighters and has been an expert witness in more than two dozen terrorism cases in Australia. He attempted to shed light on the often darkened world of the Australian jihadist, using their own words and those of the courts to try to explain the motivations and worldview of Australian terrorists.
The Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, addressed the Lowy Institute on what a Labor Government would mean for Australia’s international engagement. How does Labor see Australia’s place in the world? What would be the priorities for a Labor Government? After her address, Senator Wong joined Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove in conversation.
Senator Penny Wong, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, was first elected in 2001. She held several ministerial positions between 2007 and 2013, including Minister for Climate Change and Water and Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Since 2016 Senator Wong has been Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Dr Michael Fullilove is Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and a leading expert on Australian and US foreign policy. He is the author of Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and the World.
The economy, tax, debt and health are the issues that are most likely to dominate the federal election campaign. But there are other matters of importance to Australians that should be debated. Which party is best able to balance our delicate relationships with Washington and Beijing? Both parties have promised to give a higher priority to our relationships in the Pacific but whose plans are most likely to succeed? Both parties are committed to increasing defence spending but will this fall victim to the competition to cut income taxes and achieve sustainable budget surpluses? Will spending on foreign aid also be sacrificed because of budgetary pressures? What do the findings of the Lowy Institute Poll tell us about voters’ attitudes?
Lowy Institute experts discussed these and other important foreign policy and defence issues of the federal election campaign.
Dr Michael Fullilove is Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and a leading expert on Australian and US foreign policy. He is the author of Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and the World.
Alex Oliver is the Director of Research at the Lowy Institute. She is responsible for the Institute’s research program and team. Until 2018, she directed the Lowy Institute’s program on diplomacy and public opinion, including the annual Lowy Institute Poll.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, is a leading expert on China’s political system and Australia’s relations with Asia. He is the author of The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers and Australia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of US Power in the Pacific Century.
Annmaree O’Keeffe is a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute with vast experience in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. She was a Deputy Director General of Australia’s former foreign aid agency, AusAID, and has served as Australian Ambassador to Nepal.
Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security program, writes about Australian defence and foreign policy, as well as China’s growing military. He is writing a book on Australia’s domestic political dysfunction and what it means for our place in the world.
Following a succession of severe conflicts that have caused massive loss of life, dislocation and grave human rights violations, the task of the human rights movement today is a daunting one. Has the international community become resigned to irresolvable conflicts and human rights atrocities? The Lowy Institute hosted Philippe Bolopion, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director for Global Advocacy, together with ABC foreign correspondent Sophie McNeill and human rights expert and legal advocate Chris Sidoti for a discussion about the challenges of working against atrocities in countries such as Syria, Yemen, and Myanmar, and how United Nations advocacy can be effective.
The discussion was moderated by Lowy Institute Director of Research, Alex Oliver.
Philippe Bolopion is the Deputy Director for Global Advocacy at Human Rights Watch, where he contributes to HRW’s advocacy strategies and its advocacy response to crisis situations worldwide. Bolopion has been with HRW since 2010, travelling extensively to conflict zones such as Burundi, South Sudan, and Mali. He has been UN correspondent with French daily Le Monde and a journalist for France 24 and Radio France International. He reported on the end of the Kosovo conflict in Pristina (1999–2000), and is the author of Guantanamo: Le bagne du bout du monde (2004).
Sophie McNeill is a reporter with the ABC’s Four Corners program and former Middle East correspondent. She has worked across the region including in Afghanistan, Yemen, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Gaza. She has received three Walkley awards: in 2016 both for her reporting on the war in Yemen and for her work on the starvation of Syrian children in towns under siege, and in 2010 for her investigation into the killing of five children in Afghanistan by Australian Special Forces soldiers. She has twice been awarded Australian Young TV Journalist of the Year.
Chris Sidoti is an expert on human rights law, a senior human rights advocate, and a member of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar since July 2017. He has been Australian Human Rights Commissioner (1999–2000), a commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1992–1995), and has led human rights organisations in Australia and Geneva. He is presently an adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University.
The relationship between Washington and Beijing is increasingly competitive. The economic interdependence that once underwrote the relationship now undermines it. The two militaries are testing the other’s resolve in the Pacific Ocean. A new “space race” in technology – 5G, artificial intelligence, and fintech – is fuelling mistrust. Why has Washington’s view of Beijing darkened? Is the US developing a coherent strategy on China? How is Beijing responding?
Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor and Laura Rosenberger discussed the state of relations between the two global superpowers.
Laura Rosenberger is Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a Senior Fellow at The German Marshall Fund. She has previously served in a variety of positions at the State Department including managing US–China relations, addressing North Korea’s nuclear program and serving as an adviser to senior US diplomats Bill Burns and Tony Blinken. She also worked as National Security Council director for China and Korea and foreign policy adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Ms Rosenberger is a Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Visitor at the Australian National University’s National Security College. The Lowy Institute thanks the NSC for facilitating her visit.
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove had a conversation about global issues with Stephen J. Hadley, former National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush.
Stephen Hadley is one of the most respected foreign policy makers in Washington, DC. He served for four years as the Assistant to President George W. Bush for National Security Affairs from 2005 to 2009. From 2001 to 2005, Mr Hadley was the Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser, serving under then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Mr Hadley had previously served on the National Security Council staff and in the Defense Department including as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy. Mr Hadley now serves as a Principal at RiceHadleyGates LLC and as Chair of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace.
The Lowy Institute hosted Mr Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), for an address on ASD’s offensive cyber capabilities.
Mr Burgess has served as the head of ASD since 4 January 2018, becoming the first director-general of ASD on 1 July 2018. He has worked as an intelligence official, consultant, and private-sector chief information security officer. He has served on the Federal Government’s naval shipbuilding advisory board, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network board, and as a non-executive director of SC8 Limited. Mr Burgess holds a degree in electronics engineering from the South Australian Institute of Technology.
On 17 April, 190 million Indonesians will vote for their president and parliament in one of the largest single-day elections the world has ever seen. Incumbent President Joko Widodo and rival Prabowo Subianto are facing off in a replay of the bitterly-fought 2014 campaign.
Indonesia has become a vibrant and competitive democracy. But human rights activists are worried about the government’s use of legal tools against its opponents and the exploitation of heated religious rhetoric as a campaign tool. Meanwhile, vested interests in the armed forces, bureaucracy, and established political parties are stymying much-needed reforms.
Eminent Indonesian political expert Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar, and Director of Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Project Ben Bland, discussed the elections, the state of democracy in Indonesia, and the implications for Indonesia’s international relations.
Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar is a Research Professor at the Centre for Politics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. She previously served as Deputy Secretary in the Vice President’s office from 2010-2017 and as a senior foreign affairs official from 1998-1999. She has also advised many international organisations and is currently a governing board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar’s visit to Australia is part of the ASEAN-Australia Visiting Fellows Program at the Lowy Institute, which is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The implications for national security are often overlooked in discussions on climate change. In the Middle East, however, regional cooperation is vital when responding to the declining availability of water and periods of prolonged drought. How do you foster cooperation in a troubled region?
Gidon Bromberg is co-founder of EcoPeace Middle East, an organisation which brings together Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis to advance sustainable and peaceful regional development, including in an ambitious project for the Jordan Valley. Mr Bromberg has written extensively on the relationship between water, peace, and security in the Middle East, and has presented to United Nations forums, the US Congress, and the European Parliament.
Dr Rodger Shanahan, Lowy Institute Research Fellow, had a conversation with Gidon Bromberg about security, cooperation, and the preservation of scarce natural resources in the Middle East.
The nuclear non-proliferation regime is under threat. Disarmament has stalled. Challenges from Moscow, Pyongyang, and Washington are mounting. Deteriorating trust between nuclear states threatens the emergence of a new arms race.
What does this mean for Australia? What role should we play in the global effort against nuclear proliferation? Should we sign the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty? And how does our nuclear stance affect our alliance with the United States?
The Lowy Institute hosted former foreign minister the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC and former chairman of the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG for a discussion on Australia’s nuclear weapons policy.
The event was introduced by Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and moderated by Research Director Alex Oliver.
Cyber issues are increasingly important — to governments, to businesses, to organisations and to individuals. Cyber affairs also play a significant role in Australia’s relations with other countries. In 2017 the Australian Government adopted the International Cyber Engagement Strategy to advance and protect Australia’s national security and national interests in cyberspace and to work with partners in the Indo-Pacific to improve cyber security and connectivity.
The Lowy Institute hosted the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Dr Tobias Feakin, for a discussion of these issues. The discussion was chaired by the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove.
Senator Payne has served as a senator for New South Wales since 1997. She served 12 years on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, including a period as chair of its Human Rights subcommittee. She was Minister for Human Services from 2013 to 2015 when she assumed the Defence portfolio, becoming the first woman to hold the position of Minister for Defence. She was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in August 2018.
Dr Tobias Feakin is Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for Cyber Affairs. He was a member of the Independent Panel of Experts that helped develop Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy. He was Director of National Security Programs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute from 2012 to 2016.
To mark International Women’s Day in 2019, the Lowy Institute in partnership with Telstra hosted a special event on the impact of authoritarian regimes on women.
Today is the era of the “strongman”, as a new wave of authoritarianism spreads across the globe. In countries as diverse as Russia, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Poland, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines, macho leadership reigns. Even in contemporary western democracies such as the United States, the ranks of authoritarian populists have swelled.
Aside from the grand displays of force, clampdown on minority rights and gagging of the press which typically characterise authoritarian regimes, another striking feature is the limits they impose on the freedoms and power of women.
The panel featured:
Dr Nicole Curato, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance Lydia Khalil, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s West Asia Program Alex Oliver, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute (moderator) Elaine Pearson, Australia Director, Human Rights Watch Dr Rebecca Sheehan, Lecturer in the Sociology of Gender and Program Director of Gender Studies at Macquarie University
The latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House, America vs the West: Can the liberal world order be preserved? by Dr Kori Schake, was launched in Canberra on 5 March.
Schake, one of America’s most respected foreign policy practitioners, argues that the success of the liberal order is not preordained. It will have to be fought for, compromised for, and rejuvenated. Whether it can be done without American leadership will depend on the strengths of the major challengers — Russia and China — but above all on whether the West’s middle powers are prepared to band together.
Dr Kori Schake is the Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She is a contributing editor at The Atlantic, the author of Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony and editor with General James Mattis of Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military. She has worked as Director for defence strategy and requirements on the National Security Council staff, as Deputy Director of policy planning in the State Department, and in both the military and civilian staffs in the Pentagon. In 2008 she was senior policy adviser on the McCain–Palin presidential campaign. She teaches in War Studies at King’s College London and has previously taught at Stanford University, the United States Military Academy, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the University of Maryland.
The United Kingdom faces a fast-approaching but possibly flexible deadline to leave the European Union on 29 March. What are the underlying reasons for the UK’s ambivalence about Europe? Why are both the main political parties split on this subject? Can Prime Minister Theresa May secure a deal acceptable to both Brussels and Westminster? Could there be a second referendum? What will other countries learn from this extraordinary period of British and European political history?
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and eminent British academic Sir Adam Roberts discussed the state of British politics and the future relationship between the UK and its European neighbours.
Sir Adam Roberts is Senior Research Fellow of the Centre for International Studies in Oxford University's Department of Politics and International Relations. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, and Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is one of Britain’s leading scholars of international relations and is the author or editor of more than ten books.
The recent decision by United States President Trump to withdraw US forces from Syria has again focused attention on the ongoing Syrian civil war. The move has been heavily criticised by many in and outside the US, although others have questioned what purpose the forces were serving inside Syria on an ill-defined mission.
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Anthony Bubalo moderated a panel discussion with Dr Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow in the West Asia Program, and Lauren Williams, journalist, researcher, and analyst specialising in Syria and the Levant. The panel analysed the possible ramifications of the withdrawal and examined the military and political situation in Syria and the challenges of reconstructing the war-torn country.
The Lowy Institute hosted this popular annual panel discussion with Institute experts on the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2019.
Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired the discussion in Sydney. Also on the panel were Director of Research Alex Oliver, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, Director of the Southeast Asia Project Ben Bland, and Director of the International Economy Program, Roland Rajah.
Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove and The New York Times editor and columnist Bari Weiss had a conversation about journalism, American politics and society, and the role of the United States in the world under President Donald Trump.
Bari Weiss is an op-ed staff editor and columnist for The New York Times on culture and politics. Ms Weiss was previously an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal before joining The Times in 2017. She is currently working on a book, The New Seven Dirty Words, for Henry Holt and Company. She is a native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Columbia University.
Michael Fullilove is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He writes widely on global issues for publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. Dr Fullilove is the author of a number of books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World (Penguin).
China is holding hundreds of thousands of Uighurs in detention camps in Xinjiang, western China, in what appears to be a systematic targeting of an entire ethnic and religious group in the name of national security. After first denying their existence, China now claims the camps are vocational centres designed to combat extremism. The Uighur community, however, tell a different story – of detainees being forced to denounce their Islamic faith and swear allegiance to the communist party.
The Lowy Institute's Richard McGregor hosted a discussion of the situation in Xinjiang, and how the scale of the camps was uncovered. The panel featured Nury Turkel, the Washington-based chair of the Uighur Human Rights Project, Dr Mamtimin Ala, President of the Australian Uighur Association, David Brophy, of Sydney University, and Lowy Institute researcher Kelsey Munro.
The Lowy Institute hosted the President of the Brookings Institution for a conversation about the world. John R. Allen and Michael Fullilove discussed US foreign policy, trends in international politics, and the transformative effects of technology on international affairs.
John R. Allen was appointed President of the Brookings Institution in November 2017. He is a retired US Marine Corps four-star general and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and US Forces in Afghanistan. He served as senior adviser to the Secretary of Defence on Middle East Security and Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.
Michael Fullilove has served as Executive Director of the Lowy Institute since August 2012. Over the past decade and a half, Dr Fullilove has played a central role in the establishment and development of the Lowy Institute. He previously served as Program Director, Global Issues at the Institute and has also worked as a lawyer, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, and an adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating. He is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings.
The Lowy Institute is grateful to the United Services Institute of the ACT for their support of this event.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, delivered an address to the Lowy Institute.
Senator Payne has served as a Senator for New South Wales since 1997. She served 12 years on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, including a period as Chair of its Human Rights subcommittee. She was Minister for Human Services from 2013 to 2015 when she assumed the Defence portfolio, becoming the first woman to hold the position of Minister for Defence. She was appointed Foreign Minister in August 2018.
How is China trying to unseat the United States as the dominant power in Asia? What tactics are Beijing using and how is the US responding?
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about China’s challenge to America’s military dominance in Asia, a phenomenon which is upending Australia’s longstanding assumptions about its strategic position in the region. The panel examined the entrepreneurial ways China has been building military power, how it may have lulled the US into inaction, and what it means for the future of security in the Indo-Pacific.
The panel was hosted by Sam Roggeveen, Director of Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, with Oriana Skylar Mastro, of Georgetown University and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Brendan Taylor, of the Australian National University, and the author of ‘The Four Flashpoints: How Asia Goes to War’, and Professor Benjamin Schreer of Macquarie University.
The decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union is more than two years old. What will happen on Brexit day on 29 March next year? What kind of deal, if any, will Britain negotiate? What will be the impact on the infighting in British politics and within Prime Minister Theresa May’s government?
As the country nears the date set for the conclusion of negotiations with Brussels, join a panel of experts at the Lowy Institute to discuss the outcomes of either a ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’ scenario, the outlook for the United Kingdom after Brexit, and the consequences for Australia and its ties with both London and Brussels.
Sydney's panel comprised Dr Annmarie Elijah, Associate Director, ANU Centre for European Studies; Ticky Fullerton, business journalist and anchor of the TICKY program on "Your Money", and Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Lowy Institute Asian Power and Diplomacy Program, together with moderator Alex Oliver, Lowy Institute Director of Research.
We are now halfway through Donald Trump’s first term as president of the United States. With a polarised US public and a fraying international order, the president faces his first electoral report card since 2016 in the mid-term elections. The results will influence the trajectory of US politics and foreign policy for the next two, and possibly six, years.
Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove gave an address on the Trump administration, the effect of the midterms on US foreign policy and what this means for Australia and the world order. The event was chaired by Lowy Institute’s Research Director Alex Oliver.
Michael Fullilove has served as the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute since 2012. He writes widely on Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy and global issues in publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Australian press. In 2015, Dr Fullilove delivered the Boyer Lectures, which were published as A Larger Australia: The ABC 2015 Boyer Lectures (Penguin). Dr Fullilove has written and edited a number of other books, including Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World (Penguin), which won the 2014 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the global financial crisis and the elevation of the G20 to a leader-level forum. Ten years on, has the G20 fulfilled its promise of improving global economic cooperation, particularly in the current environment of rising geopolitical tension and trade frictions? With only a few weeks until the Buenos Aires Summit, Dr David Gruen, Australia’s G20 Sherpa, discussed the role of the G20 in the global economic order, including its progress since 2008 and prospects for the future.
Dr David Gruen is the Deputy Secretary, Economic, at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and G20 Sherpa. Before joining the Department in September 2014, he was Executive Director of The Macroeconomic Group at the Australian Treasury.
On Monday 29 October the Lowy Institute hosted the Hon Bill Shorten MP, Leader of the Opposition, for a major foreign policy address.
Mr Shorten has served as the Leader of the Opposition since 2013. He was first elected as the Member for Maribyrnong at the 2007 Federal election. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments.
In an age of ubiquitous data, the “scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it”. Google’s Chief Economist, Hal R Varian, and Lowy Institute’s International Economy Director Roland Rajah had a discussion on the economics of data, how data can drive innovation and improve our wellbeing, and the debate over its effects on competition and the appropriate role of government.
Dr Varian is an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in three departments: business, economics, and information management. He has also taught at MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Michigan and other universities around the world. Professor Varian has published numerous papers in economic theory, industrial organisation, financial economics, econometrics, and information economics. He is the co-author of a bestselling book on business strategy, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, and wrote a monthly column for The New York Times from 2000 to 2007.
On the eve of the visit to Australia by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Lowy Institute held an event on the issue of the republic and Australia’s place in the world.
Constitutional monarchist Julian Leeser MP, Federal Member for Berowra, and Michael Cooney, National Director of the Australian Republic Movement, joined Alex Oliver, Lowy Institute Director of Research, for a panel discussion on whether Australia’s status as a constitutional monarchy affects the way the world see us – and how we see ourselves.
Professor Robert Cribb of the Australia National University (ANU) delivered a keynote address (30 minutes) on the place of minorities in Indonesia, as part of the 2018 Indonesia Update, presented in cooperation with the ANU. This was followed by a panel discussion (35 minutes) featuring Professor Cribb; Dr Sandra Hamid, the Asia Foundation’s country representative in Indonesia; and Associate Professor Charlotte Setijadi, Singapore Management University. Tim Johnston moderated.
Tom Power of the Australia National University (ANU) Indonesia Project delivered the 2018 political update (approximately 35 minutes), followed by a panel discussion on Indonesia’s upcoming April 2019 elections (approximately 40 minutes) featuring Power, ANU; Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis in Jakarta; and Aaron Connelly, the director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute. Ulla Fionna moderated.
The international order is under strain. Rising powers want to rewrite the rules, Western leaders are turning inwards, and technology is breaking down barriers. What can middle powers do in response?
Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove moderated a discussion with Ralf Beste, Head of Policy Planning at the German Federal Foreign Office, Volker Perthes, Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and Gudrun Wacker, Senior Fellow in the Asia Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
In November, New Caledonia will face an independence referendum. This will bring to an end the Matignon and Noumea Accords, which delivered 30 years of peace after a bloody civil war. France is overseeing preparations.
Australia's position continues to be simple support for the full implementation of the 1998 Noumea Accord, including a genuine referendum process. The Accord planned a scheduled handover and sharing of some responsibilities by France, and economic re-balancing between the mainly European and mainly Kanak areas. It stipulates that the final vote would decide three things: New Caledonia's future international status; whether France retains responsibility for defence, foreign affairs, currency, law and order, and justice; and citizenship, or employment/voting rights, for longstanding residents.
On August 15, CarriageWorks presented the world premiere of new work by resident company Marrugeku, with an inter-cultural and trans-Indigenous production, featuring Australian and New Caledonia dancers of First Nations, immigrant and settler descent. Presented as New Caledonia moves towards the referendum on independence from France, Le Dernier Appel (The Last Cry) asks questions of cultural, political and personal decolonisation in both Australia and New Caledonia.
Alexandre Dayant, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, interviewed Emmanuel Tjibaou, the Director of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre (which co-commissioned Le Dernier Appel). Mr. Tjibaou has been involved in the development of Le Dernier Appel with Marrugeku (Australia's leading Indigenous intercultural dance theatre company), from a Kanak perspective.
Emmanuel Tjibaou is the son of the assassinated Kanak independence leader Jean Marie Tjibaou who signed the accord for the peace treaty with France and the conditions of the referendum which takes place this November.
The Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Samoa.
The Pacific is back in international headlines. New partners in the region are contributing to a fast-changing geostrategic landscape, and old partners are ‘stepping up’ in response. But how new are these current dynamics? How do Pacific Islanders view the movements and machinations of large powers in the Pacific and how have they responded to such developments? How are Pacific Island countries shaping the engagement of partners in the region, and how will they continue to shape them in the future? We delved into these issues and more with Samoa’s Prime Minister.
The Hon Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi is the leader of the Human Rights Protection Party, which currently retains 47 of the 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1981 and has previously served as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In 1998 he became the sixth Prime Minister of Samoa, and has led his party to four general election victories. Before entering politics, he served in the Department of Treasury.
Whether in terms of denuclearisation talks with North Korea, an escalating trade war with China, or the promotion of a concept and strategy for a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, the pace of US statecraft in Asia has been frenetic in recent months.
Has the United States reclaimed the initiative in great power competition in the region? Are bold but often contradictory US initiatives unpicking or strengthening America’s position in Asia? Will a ‘new era in US economic commitment’ to the region prove more meaningful than the last, which ended with US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership? And how do regional partners and adversaries interpret recent developments?
Alex Oliver, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, chaired a panel discussion with Gordon Flake, CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre, together with Lowy Institute Senior Fellows Dr Euan Graham and Richard McGregor.
Australia now has its fifth prime minister in five years. What does this mean for Australia’s place in the world? Does our reputation as the ‘coup capital of the democratic world’ damage Australia’s international standing? How does it affect our ability to run a coherent foreign policy? And what might we expect from the Morrison government?
Four Lowy Institute experts discussed the global implications of Australia’s political crisis. Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a discussion with Director of Research Alex Oliver, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor, and Director of the International Security Program Sam Roggeveen.
The future of the Middle East peace process under US President Donald Trump, the use of chemical weapons in Syrian conflict, the implications for the United Nations’ role and its duties – these topics are politically, culturally, and ethically complex and are not easily navigated.
The Lowy Institute hosted Mr Nick Kaldas APM, former Director of Internal Oversight Services in the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), to hear his views on these issues, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Mr Kaldas was a former deputy commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force. He has recently returned from two years with the UNRWA based in Jordan, during which time he was seconded as Chief Investigator into the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the UN/OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).
China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea have emerged as the testing ground for great power competition between the US and China, and as a lightning rod for rival claimants in the region, as well as Australia and Japan, to assert their own maritime rights.
Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Richard McGregor moderated a panel with other pre-eminent experts on the South China Sea – Wu Shicun, of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Linda Jakobson, of China Matters, and Professor Benjamin Schreer of Macquarie University – where they discussed the controversy.
Foreign aid is an important resource for the Pacific Islands, and for many countries is a major point of engagement with the region. Yet public information at the project level is sparse, often lacks detail, and is difficult to access. This lack of transparency reduces the effectiveness of aid. It makes it difficult to coordinate aid efforts across multiple stakeholders. It makes it challenging for countries in the Pacific to align aid with their own investment priorities. It makes it harder for donors to learn from each other and from the past. It also reduces the accountability of aid, on both the sending and receiving sides, that flows in to Australia’s immediate region.
The Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map helps address this situation.
The Pacific Aid Map is an analytical tool designed to enhance aid effectiveness in the Pacific by improving coordination, alignment, and accountability of foreign aid through enhanced transparency of aid flows. The resource has collected data on close to 13,000 projects in 14 countries from 62 donors from 2011 onwards. This raw data has been made freely available on an interactive multifaceted platform, allowing users to interrogate and manipulate the information in a variety of ways.
Lowy Institute Director of Research, Alex Oliver, moderated a panel with principal researchers Alexandre Dayant and Jonathan Pryke, for a discussion on the method and findings of the most comprehensive assessment of aid flows in the Pacific ever undertaken.
At the end of 2017, China announced it had been a year of “remarkable progress” on human rights. However, activists draw attention to an increasingly repressive environment in China, including restrictions on academic freedom; domestic human rights deteriorations in law, policing, and terrorism; the surveillance apparatus; and repression in Tibet and Xinjiang.
Behind closed doors, Australia has raised human rights issues with China in annual high-level dialogues, and continues to work on human rights capacity-building projects with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
What is the current state of human rights in China, and has the Chinese Communist Party been trying to improve the situation? How have different Australian governments (and others) engaged China on human rights, and how effective have those efforts been?
Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the Lowy Institute’s East Asia Program, moderated a panel with Dr Sophie Richardson, China Director at Human Rights Watch, and Natasha de Silva, Director International Engagement and Partnerships at the Australian Human Rights Commission, for an in-depth discussion of these issues.
How are human rights in North Korea and broader regional security through North Korean denuclearisation connected, and can one be achieved without the other?
Kim Jong-un’s successful pursuit of his nuclear agenda has arguably only been possible because of his ruthless wielding of power and control, and the surveillance and oppression of the North Korean people.
The US and its allies want North Korea to denuclearise in the interests of regional and global security. Following the recent meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, we have focused on if and how genuine denuclearisation can be achieved. But does the lack of any real public accountability that arises from the human rights situation in North Korea mean Kim’s promises at the Singapore summit are just empty rhetoric?
Should human rights be a part of the denuclearisation discussion, and if not, what are the implications, both for the North Korean people and broader security?
To explore these questions, Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the Lowy Institute’s East Asia Program, moderated a panel with the Hon. Michael Kirby, Chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea, and Dr Beomchul Shin, Director of the Division of North Korean Military Studies at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
When French President Emmanuel Macron recently visited Australia, the Australian government welcomed France as a stable partner in the Pacific region. Much of this stability relies upon the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, which will hold a referendum on self-determination in November this year. The independence movement Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) has been campaigning for independence from France for more than three decades.
Leading Kanak politician and official FLNKS independence spokesperson Daniel Goa spoke about the lead-up to the referendum, the FLNKS proposal for a Kanaky-New Caledonia republic, and economic options for an independent and sovereign state. At a time when the Australian Government is stepping up engagement in the Pacific region, he discussed implications of the referendum for ties between Australia and one of its closest Pacific neighbours.
Daniel Goa is President of Union Calédonienne (UC), the largest member of the FLNKS independence coalition. He was born at the Haut-Coulna tribe, near Hienghène, New Caledonia. Goa was elected to New Caledonia’s Northern Provincial Assembly in 2002, and to the Congress of New Caledonia in 2009. In 2012 he was elected UC President, and today serves as official spokesperson for the FLNKS independence coalition in the lead-up to November’s referendum on self-determination.
Global wealth and power are shifting eastwards. Three of the world’s four largest economies are in Asia, and the fourth, the United States, is a Pacific power. By 2025, two thirds of the world’s population will live in Asia, and only around a tenth in the West. This transformation is reshaping the global distribution of power, with profound implications for war and peace in the twenty-first century.
The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index is an analytical tool for tracking changes in the distribution of power in the region. It aims to sharpen the debate on geopolitics in Asia.
The Index ranks 25 countries and territories in terms of their capacity to influence regional events, using 114 indicators across eight thematic measures of power: economic resources and relationships, military capability and defence networks, diplomatic and cultural influence, as well as resilience and future trends.
The expert panel of Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program; Bonnie Bley, Research Fellow, and Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute, discussed the method and findings of the largest comparative assessment of power in the region ever undertaken, followed by a Q&A.
The Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and Jessica Tuchman Mathews, former president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about the international role of the United States in the era of President Trump.
Ms Mathews was president of the Carnegie Endowment for 18 years, and has also worked in the executive and legislative branches of government, in the non-profit arena, in the media, and science policymaking. She is a former director of the Office of Global Issues at the National Security Council, and has covered arms control, energy, environment, science, and technology issues as a member of the Washington Post’s editorial board.
Over the course of nearly 60 years’ engagement with Southeast Asia, Milton Osborne has become one of Australia’s leading authorities on the region. His Southeast Asia: An Introductory History, first published in 1979, is now in its 12th edition and has been translated into five Asian languages.
Osborne’s latest work, Pol Pot Solved the Leprosy Problem: Remembering Colonial and Post-Colonial Worlds, 1956–1981, is a memoir of his career as a young diplomat in Phnom Penh, from 1959–61, and later as an academic and consultant to UNHCR, when he worked in Vietnam and along the Thai–Cambodian border.
Following remarks on his experience of these early postcolonial years in Southeast Asia, Dr Osborne was joined in conversation by Aaron Connelly, Director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute.
Dr Milton Osborne has held various academic appointments, including as a nonresident fellow of the Lowy Institute. From 1982 to 1993, he returned to government service as head of the Asia Branch of the Office of National Assessments. In 2013, the French Government honoured him with an appointment as Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite for his writing on France in Asia and his role in liaison with French officials.
Papua New Guinea is about to step onto the global stage. In November, leaders representing half of the world’s GDP will descend on Port Moresby for the APEC Leaders’ Summit. This will be the largest event the country has ever hosted.
In the context of a struggling economy and development challenges, what benefits will APEC have for the people of PNG? What are the major opportunities and difficulties in hosting such an event? How will the links forged by the summit help bolster and diversify the country’s economy?
The Hon. Charles Abel, Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, delivered an address at the Lowy Institute.
Charles Abel has served as a Member of Parliament representing the Alotau Open Electorate since 2007. He has served as Minister for Culture and Tourism; Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry; and Minister for National Planning. In July 2017 he was appointed Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
The defeat of Malaysia’s ruling party on 9 May was unlike any election result the region has ever seen. No party in Southeast Asia has held power for so long, only to lose it at the polls. In its place, a broad coalition led by 92-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has formed a new government.
Can such a diverse coalition remain united as it addresses fundamental questions of the Malaysian social contract, including racial preferences? Mahathir once jailed Anwar Ibrahim, but has now freed him: how will their relationship develop as they seek to govern together? Will former Prime Minister Najib Razak be held to account for the 1MDB scandal, and how will the United Malays National Organisation react to its first experience in opposition? What will the change in government mean for Malaysia’s relationship with Australia, given Mahathir’s difficult history with earlier Australian prime ministers?
The Lowy Institute’s Director of the Southeast Asia Project, Aaron Connelly, hosted a panel discussion with Amrita Malhi, Visiting Fellow in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University; James Chin, Director of the Asia Institute Tasmania; and Kean Wong, contributing editor at New Mandala, as they discussed these questions.
The latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House, Remaking the Middle East: How a Troubled Region May Save Itself by Anthony Bubalo, was launched in Sydney on 31 May.
The Middle East is experiencing a period of concentrated turmoil unlike anything since the end of the Second World War. Uprisings, coups, and wars have seen governments overthrown, hundreds of thousands killed, and millions displaced.
Anthony Bubalo argues that the current tumult is the result of the irrevocable decay of the nizam – the system under which most states in the region are ruled. But amid the ferment there are also “green shoots” of change which could remake the Middle East in ways that are more inclusive, more democratic, less corrupt, and less violent.
Anthony Bubalo has worked on the Middle East for more than 25 years as a diplomat, intelligence analyst, and researcher. He has lived in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. He led the Lowy Institute’s Middle East research for 14 years, and regularly comments on the region’s politics in the Australian and international media.
The latest Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House, Remaking the Middle East: How a Troubled Region May Save Itself by Anthony Bubalo, was launched in Canberra on 29 May.
The Middle East is experiencing a period of concentrated turmoil unlike anything since the end of the Second World War. Uprisings, coups, and wars have seen governments overthrown, hundreds of thousands killed, and millions displaced.
Anthony Bubalo argues that the current tumult is the result of the irrevocable decay of the nizam – the system under which most states in the region are ruled. But amid the ferment there are also “green shoots” of change which could remake the Middle East in ways that are more inclusive, more democratic, less corrupt, and less violent.
Anthony Bubalo has worked on the Middle East for more than 25 years as a diplomat, intelligence analyst, and researcher. He has lived in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. He led the Lowy Institute’s Middle East research for 14 years, and regularly comments on the region’s politics in the Australian and international media.
A highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still set to take place on 12 June in Singapore. Beyond theatrical spectacle and global media attention, what can the unprecedented US–North Korea summit realistically hope to achieve?
The Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Alex Oliver, moderated a panel discussion with Dr Euan Graham, Director, International Security at the Lowy Institute, and renowned expert on Asia-Pacific security Professor Bates Gill, of Macquarie University, as they previewed the major issues likely to define the Trump–Kim summit and weighed its prospects for success or failure.
Matthew Busch, Research Fellow, East Asia Program at Lowy Institute and special guests Rahimah ‘Ima’ Abdulrahim, Executive Director of The Habibie Centre, Jakarta, and Sandra Hamid, Indonesia Country Representative for The Asia Foundation, had a discussion about Indonesia in an era of vigorous electoral competition and growing sectarianism.
In advance of more than 100 local elections in 2018 and presidential and legislative elections in 2019, now is an ideal time to take stock of the trajectory of politics in Indonesia. Should we expect a repeat of the religious and ethnic mobilisations deployed during the divisive 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election? How have other civil society groups responded to an injection of religious identity into the political sphere? Do these trends complement or threaten to undermine the consolidation of Indonesia’s democratic institutions on the 20-year anniversary of Reformasi?
The Lowy Institute is grateful to the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for their support of this event.
There is no more urgent security issue for Australia than North Korea, a nuclear-armed power with a regime described by Professor Robert Kelly as a ‘mafia state’. At his only public appearance in Canberra, Professor Kelly discussed North Korea’s enigmatic regime, its confrontation with the United States, and the likelihood of war. The conversation was moderated by Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen, and questions were taken from the audience.
Robert Kelly is a professor of international relations in the Political Science and Diplomacy Department of Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. He is a regular contributor to The Interpreter and has written for The Diplomat, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
The Turnbull government has announced it will introduce legislation to combat foreign intervention in Australian politics, after allegations of interference by the Chinese party-state. The government’s critics, in turn, say it has mishandled the issue, alienating Australia’s biggest trading partner, and unfairly targeting Chinese-Australians.
Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia, hosted a panel discussion with Adam Ni, Australian National University (ANU); Maree Ma, Vision Times; and Su-Lin Tan, Australian Financial Review, for a discussion on the Chinese party-state’s influence operations in Australia and their fallout in domestic politics, regional diplomacy, and within the Chinese-Australian community.
Adam Ni is a researcher at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU. His main areas of interest include China’s foreign and security policy.
Maree Ma is the General Manager of Vision Times, the largest independent Chinese-language media organisation in Australia.
Su-Lin Tan is a reporter with the Australian Financial Review, covering Asian business and trade in Australia.
Jason Li is Chairman of Vantage Asia Holdings, a member of the University of Sydney Senate and a former member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on China.
“Prosperity” has been a significant theme in several of President Xi Jinping’s major speeches over the past year, both at home and abroad. But what does he mean by prosperity? And what challenges does this nebulous concept create? Domestically, Xi’s promise to transform China into a “moderately prosperous society” by 2020 has been well-received. But does it have global resonance?
Australian National University’s Dr Jane Golley and Linda Jaivin discssed with Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the Lowy Institute’s East Asia Program, about the myriad ways in which prosperity is evident in China today and what this means for the rest of the world.
Panel discussion on policy implications for Australia at the Lowy Institute conference between Dame Meg Taylor, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Dr Colin Tukuitonga, Dr James Batley, chaired by Dr Euan Graham. The discussion took place at the Lowy Institute conference Australia in the Pacific: enhancing security through regional resilience, held in Canberra on 5 April 2018.
Senator Marise Payne, Minister of Defence, delivering the keynote address at the Lowy Institute conference Australia in the Pacific: enhancing security through regional resilience, held in Canberra on 5 April 2018.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will launch its flagship publication, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018, with its focus on “How Technology Impacts Jobs”. The report examines how, as increased automation displaces some tasks, new occupations emerge to take their place. The displacement of workers due to technology is real, but with the right skills, training, and regulation, Asia can overcome this challenge.
ADO also presents economic analyses of 45 economies, including the People’s Republic of China, India, and Indonesia. The publication examines Asia’s prospects by subregion: Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.
This address on how technology impacts jobs, development, and forecasts for the Asia Pacific region was led by Ananya Basu, Principal Economist from ADB’s Pacific Department; and Valerie Mercer-Blackman, Senior Economist from ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department; and was chaired by Roland Rajah, Director of the International Economy Program at the Lowy Institute.
Terrorists are recruited via social media, nuclear weapons programs are disrupted via computer viruses, world leaders communicate via Twitter, and some foreign affairs departments have larger online followings than traditional media outlets. What will global politics become in this digital age?
As Russian president or prime minister, for the last 18 years Vladimir Putin has been one of the most prominent but enigmatic figures on the global stage. He has led Russia’s evolution from a deep post-Soviet torpor to an authoritarian power which asserts itself abroad, is a key player in the Syria conflict, and faces allegations of interfering in the US presidential elections. But in the West, Russia remains shrouded in myths and stereotypes, its behaviour often misdiagnosed. In this Lowy Institute address, one of Russia’s finest political commentators, Igor Yurgens, examined the West’s misunderstanding of Russia.
Igor Yurgens is Chairman of the Institute for Contemporary Development, a Moscow-based think tank dedicated to a modern Russia. He was one of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s closest economic-policy advisers. He graduated from Moscow State University with a PhD in Economics, worked in the trade union movement in the USSR for more than two decades, and served five years in UNESCO.
The Korean Peninsula has historically been a battleground for the major powers. But with successful economic modernisation and transition to democracy, South Korea has sought to navigate rising tensions between the United States and North Korea, and to strategically benefit from China’s economic growth while relying on the United States for security. Dr Snyder discussed debates over South Korea’s strategic choices in the context of rising tensions in Northeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific, including in partnership with Australia.
Scott Snyder is Senior Fellow for Korea Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a contributor to CFR’s group blog Asia Unbound, and the author of several books about Korean security policy and regional relations in Northeast Asia, most recently South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Power (2018).
Announced in late 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is both a colossal infrastructure development scheme and a grandly ambitious undertaking of geostrategic proportions. Mixed responses to the BRI are now emerging as it begins to reshape economic and political decisions across Eurasia. In Europe, Germany’s foreign minister recently stated his view that the BRI is designed to promote a value system different to that in the West. In response to the BRI, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States are reported to be considering an Asian infrastructure development plan of their own. Our panel considered the BRI’s implications for China’s role in the region, and for Australia’s interests going forward.
The Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Dr Mathieu Duchâtel, Senior Policy Fellow and Deputy Director of the Asia and China Programme at the European Council of Foreign Relations; Professor Bates Gill, Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University; Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute; and moderated by Dr Euan Graham, Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute.
Dr Mathieu Duchâtel was in Sydney as a guest of the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University. The Lowy Institute would like thank them for their involvement in this event.
Asia’s economic transformation is reshaping the global distribution of power, changing the way the region and the world operates politically and strategically. The Lowy Institute discussed the growing wealth, influence, and military might of new and reviving Asian powers.
Following a period spent in Japan developing its national security apparatus and international security cooperation with partners from Europe to the Indo-Pacific, Yukio Okamoto, Adjunct Professor at Ritsumeikan University and former Japanese diplomat, addressed Japan’s evolving security role in the Indo-Pacific, with a focus on Japan–China relations. This was followed by a discussion with the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program Director, Dr Euan Graham, about how Japan will adapt and respond to future regional security concerns.
Yukio Okamoto was a career diplomat in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including postings in Paris at the OECD as well as in Cairo and Washington. Since retiring in 1991, Mr Okamoto has directed a political and economic consultancy, and served in a number of senior advisory positions. He has worked on multiple Japanese Government committees, including as a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (1996–98), Special Advisor to the Cabinet (2001–03) and Special Advisor on Iraq to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2003–04). He was Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Foreign Relations, and until the end of 2008 was a member of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s Study Group on Diplomacy. He has written and published extensively on Japanese Foreign Policy, diplomacy, and government.
Now that Islamic State has been defeated militarily, what does the future hold for Iraq? Deputy Director of the Lowy Institute Anthony Bubalo discussed this and other issues, including Iraq’s forthcoming elections and evolving relations with its neighbours, in conversation with Hayder al-Khoei.
Hayder al-Khoei is Director of the Centre for Shi’a Studies in London and a doctoral researcher at the University of Exeter, focusing on US foreign policy and ethno-sectarian politics in Iraq. Prior to this, he was a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).
Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), joined Aaron Connelly, Research Fellow for the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, to discuss Alyssa’s latest book, 'Our Time Has Come: How India Is Making Its Place in the World'. Dr Ayres discussed how a fiercely independent India pursues its place as a leading power, and how the United States should respond.
At CFR, Alyssa Ayres’s work focuses on India’s role in the world and on US relations with South Asia. In 2015 she served as project director for the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on US–India Relations, and from 2014 to 2016 as project director for an initiative on the new geopolitics of China, India, and Pakistan. She directs the US Relations with South Asia Roundtable series, blogs regularly for Asia Unbound, and is a contributor to Forbes.com. Her book 'Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World' was published by Oxford University Press in January 2018.
Alyssa Ayres served previously as deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia, from 2010 to 2013, covering all issues across a dynamic region of 1.3 billion people (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and providing policy direction for four US embassies and four consulates. Originally trained as a cultural historian, Dr Ayres has experience in the non-profit, government, and private sectors, and she has carried out research on both India and Pakistan.
New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rt Hon Winston Peters, addressed his government's plans to work with its Pacific partners to meet the many strategic and development challenges facing the region.
New Zealand’s place is in the Pacific. Culturally, geographically, and politically, New Zealand is a Pacific Islands country. But the Pacific is an increasingly complex strategic environment, with a broad range of external factors affecting its present and future.
Over the past fifty years, Singapore has become one of the world’s most prosperous countries and a dynamic node in the world economy. A new Lowy Analysis Paper examines not only what has driven Singapore’s success in establishing itself as a competitive base of high-value manufacturing and other value-added services, but also how the country, amid regional and global challenges, must adapt its model so as to retain its position at the centre of flows of trade, investment, and people.
Manu Bhaskaran, the paper’s author and CEO of consultancy Centennial Asia, joined Research Fellow Matthew Busch to discuss what Singapore can do to find the policy mix and economic fundamentals to overcome these challenges.
The Lowy Institute has conducted robust, independent polling on Australian attitudes to foreign policy issues annually since 2005. While the world has changed dramatically this century, how have Australian attitudes changed, and what has stayed the same?
On 1 February, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a discussion examining the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in 2018.
Joining Michael was Deputy Director Anthony Bubalo, Deputy Research Director and Director of the Diplomacy and Public Opinion Program Alex Oliver, Director of the International Security Program, Dr Euan Graham and Nonresident Fellow Dr John Edwards.
On 29 January, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Anna Kirk chaired a discussion on women's representation in leadership and politics with one of Australia's leading business executives, Ann Sherry; the highest polling female candidate in the 2017 PNG elections, Rufina Peter; and ANU academic Dr Kerryn Baker. The panelists addressed this critical issue shared between Papua New Guinean and Australian societies and discussed ways to overcome such gender inequality challenges.
China is a rapidly ageing country. According to the World Bank, the working-age population is predicted to fall by 10% by 2040. While the size of the workforce is falling, the pool of over 65s is rising, and is predicted to reach 350 million by the same year.
What are the economic effects of a shrinking labour pool and rising number of aged dependents, and how will the two-child policy limit these effects? The Lowy Institute convened a panel to explore how population dynamics will shape China’s economy and what it means for our economic future at large.
On 14 December Lowy Institute hosted the Hon Joe Hockey, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, for an address on the first twelve months of President Trump’s administration.
The Hon Joe Hockey has been Australia’s Ambassador to the United States since January 2016. Prior to this appointment, he was a member of the House of Representatives for the seat of North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He served in a broad range of ministerial portfolios including as the Minister for Human Services, Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, before being appointed as Treasurer in the Abbott government from 2013 to 2015 and chairing the G20 as part of this role. Before entering politics, Mr Hockey worked as a solicitor, and subsequently as Director of Policy to the NSW Premier.
On 13 December, the Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Minister for Defence Industry and the Leader of the House of Representatives. As Minister for Defence Industry he is responsible for Australia’s defence procurement and military capability including delivering the $200 billion worth of investment in Australia’s defence capabilities outlined in the Defence White Paper.
Minister Pyne was first elected to Federal Parliament in 1993 at the age of 25, as the member for Sturt in South Australia. Through the Howard, Abbott and Turnbull governments, he has served as Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Education and Training, and Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science.
Mu Sochua, Deputy Leader of the recently dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, speaks with Research Fellow Aaron Connelly on China's support for Prime Minister Hun Sen, the government crackdown on Cambodia's independent media and what Australia can do to encourage a return to democracy in Cambodia.
At China’s recent 19th Party Congress, the Party and President Xi Jinping announced a ‘new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics’. What does this mean for China, both domestically and globally? On 7 December, the Lowy Institute’s East Asia Program Director Dr Merriden Varrall hosted Professor Anne-Marie Brady of the Wilson Center and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Peter Cai for a panel discussion on how the ‘new era’ will shape China’s approach to its national policies, including social and economic development, and foreign affairs.
Over half a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh since 25 August, bringing with them accounts of crimes against humanity by Myanmar security forces and local mobs.
On 5 December the Lowy Institute convened an expert panel for a discussion of the background to the current crisis, including the roles of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s military, and an examination of what Australia and the international community can do to address one of Southeast Asia’s most serious humanitarian crises in decades. The panel included Dr Melissa Crouch, Senior Lecturer at the UNSW Law Faculty; Aaron Connelly, Research Fellow Lowy Institute's East Asia Program; and Hervé Lemahieu, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute. The discussion was moderated by Director of the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute Dr Merriden Varrall.
The international order is experiencing turbulence, with liberal internationalism and democracy facing multiple challenges, globally and in the region. Australian and British senior officials and experts will explore new roles that Australia and the UK can play in this period of rapid change to uphold and strengthen the rules-based order in the Asia Pacific.
On 29 November the Lowy Institute hosted an expert panel and interactive discussion with a specially invited audience, chaired by Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Michael Fullilove and Sir John Holmes from the Ditchley Foundation. The panel consisted of Oxford University Professor Rosemary Foot, UK High Commissioner Menna Rawlings, ANU Professor of Strategic Studies Hugh White, and Justin Hayhurst, First Assistant Secretary, Foreign Policy White Paper Taskforce.
On 29 November, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation between Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman and Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove on Donald Trump, Brexit, and the future of Asia.
Gideon Rachman has been chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times since 2006 following a 15-year career at The Economist. In 2016 he won The Orwell Prize for political journalism and the European Press Prize for political commentary. Mr Rachman is one of the most influential and interesting commentators on international affairs. His columns, and his most recent book Easternisation, are essential reading for anyone who is interested in the world.
Using much new material, John Edwards’ vivid, landmark biography places John Curtin, Australia’s wartime leader, as a man of his times, puzzling through the immense changes in Australia and its region released by the mighty shock of the Pacific War. The biography locates the turning point in Australian history not at Gallipoli or the Western Front or even Federation, but in the Pacific War and Curtin’s Prime Ministership.
On 27 November former Prime Minister Paul Keating launched the book at the Lowy Institute with a speech on Curtin and political leadership.
In the past two decades Indonesia has made great strides in improving access to education, as children begin school earlier and remain there longer than ever before. At the same time, however, quality and learning outcomes have been largely unchanged. A new Lowy Institute Analysis by the University of Melbourne’s Andrew Rosser explores how Indonesia’s underlying political and social relationships have contributed to this conundrum of access over quality.
On 20 November the Lowy Institute hosted a discussion of the paper and its themes with Andrew Rosser, the Asia Institute's Dr Ken Setiawan and the Lowy Institute's Matthew Busch. In light of Australia’s development assistance to, and commercial links with, its near neighbour, the panel discussed how these lessons might shape Australia’s engagement with Indonesia.
The Lowy Institute acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government Department of Premier and Cabinet for this event.
On 21 November, the Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Hon Richard Marles MP, the Shadow Minister for Defence, who spoke on ‘Australia and the Pacific: A question of identity’.
The Hon Richard Marles MP is the Federal Member for Corio. His previous appointments include Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister for Trade, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry, and Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Affairs.
This morning the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the results of the same-sex marriage survey conducted earlier this year – of a turnout of 79.5% of eligible Australians, a total of 61.6% said 'Yes' to the question of whether the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The Lowy Institute's Executive Director Michael Fullilove, Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen and Research Associate Bonnie Bley discuss the result and what it means for Australia's place in the world and its international reputation.
Donald Trump’s first trip to Asia as President, which began on 5 November, will bring his unique approach to diplomacy to our region for the first time. Over ten days, President Trump will visit five countries and attend two summits, and outline his Asia policy for the first time. How he responds to the pressures of these high-stakes meetings will set the tone of America’s relationship with Asia for the remainder of his presidency.
On 10 November, the Lowy Institute hosted an expert panel to discuss President Trump’s early forays into Asia policy, featuring Euan Graham, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program; Aaron Connelly, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program; and Huong Le Thu, Visiting Fellow at the ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. The discussion was moderated by Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program.
The relationship between China and the United States is central to security and prosperity in Asia. On 27 October Executive Director Michael Fullilove examined the future of this critical relationship in conversation with Managing Editor of The New York Times and long-time China watcher, Joseph Kahn.
Together they explored issues such as the evolution of Asia policy under the Trump administration, the implications for Chinese foreign policy of this year’s 19th Party Congress in Beijing, and future developments on the Korean peninsula.
Joseph Kahn has won two Pulitzer Prizes, including one for his coverage of China. He first reported from China in 1989 after the Tiananmen crackdown for The Dallas Morning News. In 1994 he joined The Wall Street Journal as a China correspondent. In 1998 he joined the Times, and was appointed Beijing bureau chief in 2003. He returned to New York in 2008 to become an editor for the Times.
In this edition of Canberra Conversations, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen speaks with Gareth Evans, former Australian Foreign Minister.
In the early part of the twentieth century, the world turned inwards as fear shut down flows of people and goods across national borders. A century later, can we make a better choice?
On 28 September the Lowy Institute launched of Choosing Openness, a new Lowy Institute Paper by the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP and published by Penguin Random House Australia, at the National Press Club in Canberra.
Across the developed world, global engagement has become a major political fault line. Some say that trade, investment, and immigration are threats rather than opportunities. Global uncertainty, rising inequality, and populism present real challenges to globalists. Choosing Openness argues that Australia’s past prosperity has flowed from engaging with the world. An open Australia requires stronger advocacy and smarter policies.
On 23 September the Lowy Institute hosted the 2017 Lowy Institute Media Award dinner, where the 2017 Award was won by Matt Brown of the ABC. New York Times columnist Bret Stephens delivered the keynote speech, addressing the dying art of disagreement.
In this edition of Canberra Conversations, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen speaks with Frances Adamson, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, about her life and career, the influences that shaped her, the media diet she consumes, as well as the challenges facing her department and the nation.
The Lowy Institute's East Asia Program Research Fellow Aaron Connelly speaks with Milton Osborne, a former Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow and one of the world's leading historians of Cambodian politics, about recent political developments in the country and how to put them in the context of Cambodian history.
In the middle of the night on Saturday, hundreds of police surrounded Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha’s house. Despite his parliamentary immunity, they arrested him and took him to the notorious Correctional Center 3 on the border with Vietnam.
On Monday, prosecutors announced that they had charged Kem Sokha with treason for conspiring with the United States to overthrow the government. As evidence, they produced a video of a talk he had given in Australia four years earlier describing US support for democratisation in Cambodia. Under the Cambodian Constitution, parliamentary immunity is void if a member is caught committing a crime in flagrante delicto, or in the act, and the prosecutors said the video qualified.
At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has been cracking down on Cambodia’s English-language press, handing a disputed $6.3 million tax bill to the Cambodia Daily that forced the paper's closure on Monday. The Cambodia Daily’s final headline ('Descent into Outright Dictatorship') summed up the high drama of the weekend’s crackdown.
On 28 August in Melbourne, Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo chaired the launch of ‘Globally Connected: Victoria’s Trade Statement’, by Victoria’s Trade Minister Philip Dalidakis.
Canberra has a large community of foreign-policy professionals - public servants, political staffers, diplomats, journalists, academics, students. In our new occasional podcast series ‘Canberra Conversations’, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen will interview Canberra's national-security and foreign-policy leaders about their lives, their influences, and how they do their jobs.
In the first episode of Canberra Conversations, Roggeveen speaks with Mike Pezzullo, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the front-runner to head the powerful new Home Affairs Ministry upon its eventual formation.
Donald Trump has now been president of the United States for seven months. He is a very different president from his predecessors.
What does this mean for Australia? How should we manage the US alliance in the age of Trump?
The Executive Director of the Lowy Institute Michael Fullilove is the author of a new essay on the Trump administration and Australia in Foreign Affairs magazine. On 23 August, Dr Fullilove and Nonresident Fellow Professor James Curran, author of Fighting with America, discussed the first months of the Trump administration and Australia’s response.
On 22 August the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with two of America’s leading analysts, Kori Schake of the Hoover Institution and Thomas Wright, Director at the Brookings Institution and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow, who discussed how the Trump administration will deal with a range of foreign and security challenges. From North Korea’s missile program and the fight against Islamic State in the Middle East, to Russia’s resurgence and China’s growing assertiveness, this event examined the growing list of global challenges facing the United States and its allies such as Australia.
Dr Kori Schake is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. She teaches Thinking About War at Stanford, is a contributing editor at the Atlantic, and also writes for War on the Rocks and Foreign Policy. She has served in various policy roles including at the White House for the National Security Council; at the Department of Defense for the Office of the Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff and the State Department for the Policy Planning Staff. During the 2008 presidential election, she was Senior Policy Advisor on the McCain-Palin campaign. In 2016, she edited the book Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military, with the current US Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis.
Thomas Wright is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He is also a senior fellow in international order and strategy and Director of the Center for the the US.and Europe at the Brookings Institution. Previously, he was Executive Director of Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and senior researcher for the Princeton Project on National Security. Tom's book All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power was published by Yale University Press in May 2017.
On June 30 2017, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands came to an end, marking the conclusion of the longest Australian-led intervention mission in our history. RAMSI was a response to a tumultuous period in Solomon Islands history known locally as ‘The Tensions’. Since 2003, thousands of police, military and civilian personnel from 15 member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum have taken part in RAMSI to help restore law and order and strengthen Solomon Islands institutions. How successful has this intervention been and how has it left Solomon Islands? What challenges does Solomon Islands continue to face and what plans does the current government have to address those challenges?
On 14 July the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare and former RAMSI Special Coordinator James Batley about the lessons learnt from RAMSI, and what’s next for one of Australia’s closest neighbours, Solomon Islands.
Pascal Lamy, whose distinguished career includes former European Union Commissioner for Trade and former head of the World Trade Organization, is currently in Australia to discuss the future of the European Union’s relationship with the Pacific.
The EU’s partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries has been guided by the so-called ‘Cotonou Agreement’, which expires in 2020. Negotiations on a new agreement will commence soon and present an opportunity to reflect a changing world and new landmark international agreements, such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 3 August Mr Lamy addressed the Lowy Institute on how the Pacific may evolve: in the new era of Trumponomics(and end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership); in light of the rise of China; and in the context of new international trade agreements and shifting paradigms in development assistance – with a focus on the European Union.
On 27 July the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, delivered the 2017 Lowy Lecture at Sydney Town Hall.
The Lowy Institute's East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall speaks to Alanna Krolikowski, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Alberta's China Institute and participant in the ANU's 17th annual China Update, on developments in China's aerospace sector.
On 18 July the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Dr Michael Fullilove and Dennis Richardson AO, who until his recent retirement was one of Australia’s most experienced and respected public servants.
On 12 May 2017, Dennis Richardson retired as the Secretary of the Department of Defence, ending a storied public service career that began in 1969. In that time, he served as the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as Australian Ambassador to the United States and as Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. He was also Principal Adviser to the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1991.
On 6 July the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, who spoke on Australia's national interests in a time of disruption.
In 2001, China entered the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a watershed in the history of globalisation. Fully integrating China into the global economy had profound consequences, both positive and disruptive. Domestically, Beijing applied WTO rules to promote far-reaching market-based economic reforms. Internationally, China’s strong export industry has led to the decline of old-line industries in advanced economies. Recently China has adopted a number of technological and economic policies and practices which will have new implications for international markets. On 5 July the Lowy Institute hosted journalist and author Paul Blustein and East Asia Program Director Dr Merriden Varrall in a discussion China’s changing engagement with the global economy and the dangers facing the trading system. A Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Paul has written widely on economic issues for more than 35 years, including for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and is the author of five books on international economic institutions.
China’s continuously growing role in world affairs can’t help but capture our imaginations — but how does the world look from Beijing? Is President Xi navigating global affairs with a skilful coherent strategy, or are the Chinese elite opportunistically grabbing on to whatever they can catch? Join Jane Perlez, Beijing Bureau Chief of The New York Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, for a discussion of politics in the Chinese capital with East Asia Program Director, Dr Merriden Varrall.
Following the passing of King Rama IX, Thailand is going through a period of significant political and social upheaval. On 28 June the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion at the National Gallery of Victoria on how Thailand will fare with its ‘triple threat’ of a royal transition, the entrenchment of military rule, and the potential escalation of separatist violence in its southern provinces.
The discussion featured Nicholas Farrelly, the author of a forthcoming Lowy Institute Analysis of the situation. He was joined by Professor John Blaxland, Director, ANU Southeast Asia Institute and Head, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre; Dr Tyrell Haberkorn, Fellow at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and Mr Sunai Phasuk, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch. The discussion will be moderated by Lowy Institute's East Asia Program research fellow, Matthew Busch.
US President Donald Trump dismisses decades-old alliances; the UK turns its back on a European project that brought peace and prosperity to a war-wracked continent; President Duterte overturns Filipino foreign policy to adopt a pro-Beijing line. Populist political forces are on the rise in some of the world’s great democracies, including in the US, India, the UK and other parts of Europe. What does the age of populism mean for American foreign policy and for the global order? On 15 June at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Lowy Institute heard from a campaigner on the front line against the darker impulses of populism - Jake Sullivan, Hillary Clinton’s closest foreign policy confidant.
Jake Sullivan, former senior foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton, describes the post-World War II order as “like the Parthenon” - with columns that included the United Nations, NATO, and the various Bretton Woods institutions. Now, in the age of Trump, Brexit, and China’s rise, we are entering a phase with fewer clean lines. “It’s surprising, it’s sometimes formal and sometimes informal, sometimes linear and sometimes ad hoc, sometimes shiny and sometimes not.”
On 19 June, Lowy Institute Director of Digital and Senior Fellow Sam Roggeveen hosted a conversation with Hillary Clinton’s closest foreign policy confidant Jake Sullivan.
As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton led one of the Obama Administration’s signature foreign policy initiatives, the ‘pivot’ to Asia. On 13 June, the Lowy Institute heard an address from Hillary Clinton’s closest foreign policy confidant, Jake Sullivan, about what motivated the pivot and what US Asia policy will look like under President Trump and beyond. A rising China, a belligerent North Korea and an unruly ASEAN are among the many challenges facing the US in the Asia-Pacific. Can this still be ‘America’s Pacific Century’, as Clinton promised when she first described the pivot in 2011?
The annual Owen Harries Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia.
Jake Sullivan was senior foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 election campaign, having ‘quietly catapulted through the ranks of the Democratic foreign policy establishment’, as Vox magazine put it. Sullivan had earlier served as senior aide to President Obama, national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State, as well as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2013 Sullivan launched and co-led the secret negotiations with Iran about its nuclear program, paving the way for the November 2013 nuclear agreement.
Previous Lowy Institute Distinguished International Fellows include Kurt Campbell, Stephen Hadley, Ambassador Shyam Saran and David Ignatius.
The Lowy Institute would like to thank Telstra, the sponsor of the Distinguished International Fellowship Program.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has called a snap election – the first early election in the UK since 1974. Opinion polls indicate her Conservative government is in for a thumping victory, but in an era of voter volatility, is this an unnecessary gamble? Or will May get the mandate she wants to negotiate the UK’s exit from the European Union on the best terms?
On 9 June, the day after UK polling day, Georgina Downer and Thomas Bentley discussed what the results mean for the UK, EU and the world.
Mr Hyland is the United Kingdom’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. The Commissioner’s role is to lead the UK’s efforts to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking. Mr Hyland addressed the Lowy Institute on what is one of the most significant global human rights issues of the modern day, and the domestic and international actions countries can take to tackle it.
Kevin Hyland was head of the London Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Unit, and has over 30 years’ experience of investigating serious and organised crime. Mr Hyland was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for "services to Combating Human Trafficking" in the 2015 New Year Honours. While in Australia, Mr Hyland participated in a public hearing at the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade parliamentary inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.
North Korea is moving closer to its cherished strategic goal: the possession of a functioning nuclear missile capable of hitting the United States. The regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests have gathered pace, creating a momentum which US and regional policy makers are struggling to control. Sanctions have failed to halt the development of the North’s nuclear program. The recent, brazen assassination of Kim Jong Un’s half-brother by an outlawed chemical weapon in Malaysia’s main airport is also widely believed to have been carried out at Pyongyang’s direction, although no North Korean suspects have been brought to justice.
While South Korea has lived with North Korea’s provocative behaviour for decades, how will other neighbours and the Trump administration deal with the looming threat? Is there a US-China “grand bargain” on the cards? Will the United States pursue unilateral counter-measures? Or does the solution lie elsewhere – with the possibility that a new South Korean president will pursue a pro-engagement strategy?
Dr Euan Graham, Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute and Korean foreign policy expert, Dr Jiyoung Song discussed the future of North Korea and how it will shape regional security.
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Stephen Grenville speaks with Sebastian Mallaby, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about how US President Donald Trump might interact with the US Federal Reserve, what lessons the Reserve Bank of Australia might draw from the US, and the impact of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.
China is a rapidly ageing country. According to the World Bank, the working age population is predicted to fall by 10% by 2040. While the size of the workforce is falling, the pool of over 65s are rising, predicted to reach 350 million by the same year.
What are the economic effects of a shrinking labour pool and rising number of aged dependents, and how will the two-child policy limit these effects? On 22 May the Lowy Institute hosted a panel of Dr Merriden Varrall, Director of the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, Dr Jane Golley, Associate Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University and Dr John Edwards, Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, to explore how population dynamics will shape China’s economy and what it means for our economic future at large.
The Lowy Institute acknowledges the support of AMP for this event.
With the race for Iran’s presidency heating up as hardline candidates join the contest, on 10 May the Lowy Institute hosted a panel moderated by Deputy Director Anthony Bubalo to preview Iran’s crucial presidential elections on 19 May. Joining Anthony were Dr Rodger Shanahan, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute; Dr Naser Ghobadzadeh, from the Australian Catholic University; and Alice Drury, who lived and studied in Iran between 2014 and 2016.
Allan Gyngell's new book 'Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World since 1942' is an authoritative account of the way Australians and their governments have helped create the world we now inhabit.
On 26 April the Lowy Institute hosted Allan Gyngell, former Executive Director of the Lowy Institute and former Prime Minister Paul Keating for a discussion of the history of Australian foreign affairs and its impact on our place in the world now, moderated by Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove.
Australia and Papua New Guinea have a strong and unique relationship, with ties spanning historical, economic, political and cultural spheres. The depth of our shared history goes far beyond the Kokoda Track and wartime experiences that most Australians associate with PNG. Many Australians don’t realise that PNG is Australia’s nearest neighbour and former colony, marking 42 years of independence this year.
The strong personal relationships that existed at the time of independence are deteriorating and with them an understanding of PNG in Australia, particularly among the next generation of Australian leaders. At the same time, youth engagement in politics on both sides of the Torres Strait is at an historic low. On 10 April the Lowy Institute Aus-PNG Network hosted a panel of exceptional young Australian and Papua New Guinean leaders who are working to engage their peers in the political process.
Panellists included Barbra Thomas, Executive Director of The Voice Inc., a youth leadership development organisation running programs in PNG’s major universities; Arianne Kassman, Interim Executive Director of Transparency International PNG; a representative from Oaktree, Australia’s largest youth-led development agency; and Benson Saulo, Group Indigenous Opportunities Manager at Australian Unity and founding and former Director of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy. The discussion was chaired by Anna Kirk, Research Associate in the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute.
With Western countries consumed by domestic problems, will it be China and Russia that now define the rules of global politics?
On 11 April the Lowy Institute at the National Gallery of Victoria hosted an in-conversation with International Securirty Program Director Euan Graham and Nonresident Fellow Bobo Lo on the new Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia, A Wary Embrace.
In a disorderly world, each has become increasingly assertive, and their partnership has emerged from relative obscurity to acquire a new prominence. Yet appearances are deceptive. Beijing and Moscow have shown no capacity to cooperate on grand strategy or establish new international norms. This is no authoritarian alliance, but a partnership of strategic convenience – pragmatic, calculating and constrained.
How can it be that governments are wealthier than ever, yet fewer citizens enjoy the benefits that such wealth can bring? Never before have so many governments owned so much wealth in the form of financial assets amassed in state-controlled investment funds. Despite this, deficits persist, inequality worsens and the effects of the 2008 crash still reverberate. “Citizens’ wealth” – creating an additional source of revenue by turning states into wealth-owners - is a long-established idea, but we are yet to see this powerful tool used to its full effect.
On 5 April the Lowy Institute hosted for a panel discussion on this topic with Angela Cummine, political theorist and author of Citizens’ Wealth: Why (and How) Sovereign Funds Should be Managed By the People For the People; David Murray, former CEO of the Commonwealth Bank; Paul Cleary, senior journalist at The Australian; and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Dr John Edwards.
Climate change accelerates instability in unexpected ways. Growing water scarcity, declining crop yields, and rising prices are catalysts for displacement and conflict, as witnessed in recent years in Syria and in the European migration crisis. The national security dimension of climate change receives little attention in Australia, but is the subject of intense focus overseas - particularly in the United States.
On 4 April the Lowy Institute screened a condensed version of the 2016 film, The Age of Consequences, which analyses the link between climate change and security, followed by a panel discussion. The panel comprised Sherri Goodman, Founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board; Ian Dunlop, an international oil, gas and coal industry expert and former chair of the Australian Coal Association; and Alan Dupont, Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and CEO of the Cognoscenti Group.
With Western countries consumed by domestic problems, will it be China and Russia that now define the rules of global politics?
On 5 April the Lowy Institute hosted the Sydney launch of A Wary Embrace, a new Lowy Institute Paper published by Penguin Random House Australia with Bobo Lo.
In a disorderly world, each has become increasingly assertive, and their partnership has emerged from relative obscurity to acquire a new prominence. Yet appearances are deceptive. Beijing and Moscow have shown no capacity to cooperate on grand strategy or establish new international norms. This is no authoritarian alliance, but a partnership of strategic convenience – pragmatic, calculating and constrained.
The Lowy Institute's East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall speaks to Mark 'Dashan (大山)' Rowswell, an extremely prominent Canadian Chinese-language comedian and performer, about Dashan's perspective on what constitutes 'friendship' in China, how Chinese choose to self-identify and the notion of 'identity bubbles', and the consequences of all this for China's international relationships.
Dashan will in Australia performing in Mandarin at the Melbourne Comedy Festival from 13 April to 16 April, and at the Sydney Comedy Festival on 28 April.
'Grievance against the rest of the world is not just a part of Trump’s ideology, it is at its very core.' That is the judgement of Dr Thomas Wright, a Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. That sense of grievance is already affecting America’s posture in Asia, with the Trump administration’s decision to walk away from the TPP trade agreement.
On 20 March in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Wright addressed the Lowy Institute on what the Trump Administration means for America’s place in Asia’s economic and strategic order.
On 16 March Professor Koh addressed the Lowy Institute on the future of international law under the Trump administration. Professor Koh is an international lawyer and legal scholar. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the Legal Adviser to the State Department in the Obama administration, and was the most senior legal adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He also served as the Dean of Yale Law School, and returned there as a professor in international law following his departure from the State Department.
With protectionist sentiment growing around the world, on 7 March the Lowy Institute hosted the Shadow Treasurer the Hon. Chris Bowen MP, who reflected on the importance of growing trade pathways in our region and the continuing importance of trade for a small open economy such as Australia.
International Security Program Director Euan Graham speaks to Seiichiro Takagi, Senior Research Advisor at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, on China's upcoming 19th Party Congress, the impact of the Trump Administration on regional security, and the current state of Japan-China and Japan-Australia relations.
International Security Program Director Euan Graham speaks to Lieutenant Colonel David Skalicky from the US Air Force on the F-22s now operating out of RAAF Base Tindal, the differences between the F-22 and other aircraft, and the Australian exchange pilot currently flying in Skalicky's squadron.
At a time of significant uncertainty about the shape of the future global order, the Australian Government is preparing its first foreign policy white paper since 2003. On 15 February, the Lowy Institute hosted the former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Varghese AO in conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove and Director of Polling Alex Oliver for a timely discussion about the White Paper process and how Australia should position itself to advance its interests over the next decade.
Peter Varghese AO was Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2012 to 2016 and is the 14th Chancellor of the University of Queensland. His previous appointments include High Commissioner to India, Director-General of the Office of National Assessments, High Commissioner to Malaysia, and Senior Advisor (International) to the Prime Minister of Australia. Mr Varghese was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2010 for distinguished service to public administration, particularly in leading reform in the Australian intelligence community and as an adviser in the areas of foreign policy and international security. Mr Varghese was head of the White Paper Secretariat (1996-97) which drafted Australia’s first White Paper on foreign and trade policy.
Intelligence agencies have never been more newsworthy than they are now. Developments in digital technology have made secrets less secure and leaks more common. In this new landscape, the barriers to disinformation and interference have been lowered. On 14 February, Michael Morell, former Acting Director of the CIA, joined the Lowy Institute for an conversation on these issues.
In a career spanning over thirty years, Michael Morell rose to the rank of Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and twice served as its Acting Director. He is a senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs, a counsellor at Beacon Global Strategies, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
On 9 Melbourne at the National Gallery of Victoria, Lowy Institute Chief Operating Officer Louisa Fitz-Gerald chaired a panel of Dr Euan Graham, Director of the International Security Program; Mr Aaron Connelly, Research Fellow in the East Asia Program; and Dr John Edwards, Nonresident Fellow in the International Economy Program, to examine the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in Asia, the United States and the international economy in 2017.
On 8 February Major General Roger Noble addressed the Lowy Institute and provided frontline insights into the war against Islamic State. In his role as Deputy Coalition Land Force Commander Iraq, he is effectively second-in-command in the international fight against IS in Iraq. Major General Noble gave a unique and contemporary overview of the state of the anti-Islamic State campaign, the performance of the Iraqi forces, and likely challenges for the post-conflict future of Iraq. Based on the experience of 2016, he discussed some observations of enduring relevance to the conduct of 21st-century military operations.
Major General Roger Noble enlisted in the Army in 1984 and began military life as a staff cadet at the Royal Military College. From 1989 to 2004, he served in a variety of regimental appointments in cavalry, APC and tank units. In 2007, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and appointed Director of Studies at the Australian Command and Staff College. In 2010, he was promoted to Brigadier, and has completed appointments as Commander 3rd Brigade, Director Special Operations Capability in Special Operations Command, and Director General Land Development, Capability Development Group. He was promoted to Major General in November 2016 and deployed with the US 101st Airborne Division as Deputy Coalition Land Force Commander, Iraq. He will be posted as Deputy Commander US Army Pacific with effect 1 March 2017.
On 7 February Professor Akiko Fukushima of Aoyama Gakuin University and the Tokyo Foundation addressed the Lowy Institute on the future of the Australia-Japan security partnership. Her visit comes at a moment of high anxiety and uncertainty in alliance relations and regional security for the Asia-Pacific region. Changes of leadership in Washington and Manila, as well as China’s increasing presence in the South China Sea, are motivating US allies to consider new axes of stability to promote steady leadership, uphold a rules-based regional order, and reduce security concerns. Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Australia, Professor Fukushima examined how, as like-minded allies and bilateral partners, Australia and Japan can cooperate for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific.
Professor Akiko Fukushima is a Research Fellow at the Asia International Centre and a Senior Fellow at the Tokyo Foundation. She has a Master’s degree in International Economy and International Relations from: Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in International Public Policy from Osaka University. She has previously held roles as Director of Policy Studies at the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) and as Senior Fellow at the Japan Foundation. She is a member of the International Advisory Board of the EU-Asia Centre in Brussels and co-editor of Global Governance magazine. She has also been a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and is a member of Prime Minister Abe’s Advisory Panel on National Security and Defence Capabilities.
This event is kindly sponsored by the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 6 February, Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove chaired a panel of Institute experts to examine the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in Asia, the United States and the international economy in 2017.
The Lowy Institute's International Security Program Director Euan Graham speaks to Prof Kim Woo-sang, former South Korean Ambassador to Australia and Professor in Political Science and International Studies at Yonsei University, about the future of the bilateral relationship, the stability of the region, Australia and South Korea as middle powers, and North Korea. Prof Kim Woo-sang is co-chairing the inaugural Australia-Korea Emerging Leaders in International Security Forum this week, sponsored by the Korea Foundation.
There is no question that Donald Trump's particular brand of populism has upended American politics, but we are only now beginning to understand what it might mean for Australia and our region. On 31 January the Lowy Institute convened a panel to discuss the implications this most improbable event for Australia, Asia, and US politics. Panellists: Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Alex Oliver, Director of the Polling Program, Aaron Connelly, East Asia Research Fellow and James Curran, Professor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney.
The Interpreter's Managing Editor Emma Connors speaks to the Council on Foreign Relation Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia Josh Kurlantzick about his new book, 'A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA'.
Interpreter Managing Editor Emma Connors speaks to Matthew Dal Santo, a Danish Research Council post-doctoral fellow at the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen, about the assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, and the general state of the Turkey-Russia relationship.
Admiral Harris visits Australia at an important juncture in alliance relations and regional security, as a new administration prepares to take over the reins in Washington. This year has seen a number of key regional developments, from the Arbitral Tribunal case in the South China Sea, to presidential elections in the Philippines and the United States. There were also a number of other key developments in Australia’s defence, including a new White Paper, a decision on future submarines, and agreement on the terms for hosting rotational US Marine deployments in the Northern Territory. Admiral Harris will highlight key enduring security interests for the US in this fast-moving regional and alliance context.
In his role as Commander US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris is responsible for military operations in an area which encompasses more than 100 million square miles—more than half the earth’s surface. Admiral Harris graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1978 and undertook graduate studies in East Asia security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, and Oxford University. He has served in every geographic combatant command region, and participated in a range of major operations, including Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and Odyssey Dawn (Libya, 2011). Harris’ staff assignments include aide to commander, US Naval Forces Japan; chief speechwriter for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and three tours on the Navy Staff. Harris was promoted to Admiral and assumed command of the US Pacific Fleet in October 2013. In May 2015, he assumed command of the US Pacific Command.
Australia has long been a proponent of international efforts to advance the cause of human rights. This is all the more important at a time when democracy and human rights have suffered serious setbacks in many parts of the world.
On 12 December Australia's Foreign Minister the Hon. Julie Bishop MP visited the Lowy Institute for World Human Rights Day, which commemorates the date that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The Minister discussed Australia’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council in 2018-2020.
On 6 December, Natasha Stott Despoja AM, Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls, looked at destinations reached and travels still to be undertaken in the global journey towards gender equality. At the conclusion of her three year term as one of Australia’s key international advocates for gender equality, Ms Stott Despoja reflected on the progress on the global goal of gender equality. Drawing from her visits to 31 countries to promote Australia’s programs and policies to advance women’s empowerment, and her representation of Australia at 29 multilateral and regional gender equality conferences, Ambassador Stott Despoja provided insights into progress towards “Planet 50:50”.
Interpreter Managing Editor Emma Connors speaks to Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rodger Shanahan about Neil Prakash and the likely consequences of extraditing him to Australia.
Whatever form the resolution to the Syrian civil war takes, one of the by-products will be thousands of experienced, ideologically motivated foreign fighters who will remain an international security threat for years, if not decades, to come. On 29 November the Lowy Institute convened a panel in Melbourne of the Lowy Institute's Dr Rodger Shanahan and Dr Lydia Khalil (chaired by Anthony Bubalo) to examine the ways in which the foreign fighter threat may develop, and how Australia and the rest of the international security community can best prepare for the ‘day after’.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rodger Shanahan updates Interpreter Managing Editor Emma Connors on the advances made by the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo.
Associate Editor at the Interpreter John Gooding speaks with Dr Sam Geall, research fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, associate fellow at Chatham House, and executive editor of China Dialogue, about Trump's and China's approach to international climate change negotiations, China's environment and energy policies, and grassroots environmentalism in China.
On 15 November, a panel of Alex Oliver, director of the Lowy Institute’s Polling Program, Daniel Flitton, senior correspondent for The Age, and Aaron Connelly, East Asia Research Fellow and an American who has watched the Washington foreign policy scene from inside the beltway, discussed the results of the US election, the likely foreign policy direction of the new administration and its ramifications for Australia during an event at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
The Interpreter's Managing Editor Emma Connors speaks to Peter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy at Duke University and former National Security Council advisor under George W Bush, about what to expect during the transition of the US presidency from Barack Obama to Donald Trump.
Shortly after the presidential race was called in favour of Donald Trump on 9 November, Interpreter Associate Editor John Gooding spoke with James Curran, professor of history at the University of Sydney and author of the upcoming Lowy Institute Paper 'Fighting with America', about the future of middle power coalitions in the Asia-Pacific and of NATO in Europe under a President Trump.
On Wednesday, 9 November, a panel of Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Alex Oliver, Director of the Polling Program, Aaron Connelly, East Asia Research Fellow and James Curran, Professor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney, discussed the results of the US election, the likely foreign policy direction of the new administration and its ramifications for Australia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
On 27 October, the Lowy Institute hosted a lecture by The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism on the evolving terrorist threat to Australia. Mr Keenan’s role within the government is to lead the Commonwealth’s efforts to counter violent extremism and to ensure effective and integrated implementation of Australia’s counterterrorism strategy. He is the primary contact for the Prime Minister for both day-to-day counterterrorism matters and in a terrorism crisis.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP was elected to the House of Representatives in 2004, and was appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism in May 2015. He has served as Minister for Justice since September 2013. He has a BA from Murdoch University and Charles University, Prague, a BA (Hons) from the Australian National University and a MPhil from Cambridge University.
Against the background of growing public discussion in Australia over the nature of our relationship with China, on 17 October Lowy Institute Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a panel of Lowy Institute experts to explore the future of Australia-China ties. East Asia Program Director Dr Merriden Varrall, International Security Program Director Dr Euan Graham, and Research Fellow Peter Cai debated some of the key issues that will shape the relationship, from China’s regional ambitions and how these are perceived, to the political and economic changes taking place within China.
Almost two decades have passed since the Hong Kong handover ceremony and much has changed for the now self-governing special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. On 17 October the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Anson Chan, former Chief Secretary of the Hong Kong government both before and after the handover, and Martin CM Lee (Lee Chu Ming), founding Chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party.
Chan and Lee will discuss Hong Kong’s relationship with the mainland, the outcome and implications of the recently concluded elections for the Legislative Council, and why Hong Kong should matter to the rest of the world.
Anson Chan retired as the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2001. As Chief Secretary, she headed the 190 000-strong civil service. She was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. During her career in the public service she was responsible for development of Hong Kong’s economic infrastructure including the planning and construction of Hong Kong’s new international airport, port expansion, and deregulation of the telecommunications market.
Martin CM Lee (Lee Chu Ming) is a Senior Counsel (formerly, Queen’s Counsel). He is the founding Chairman (1994–2002) of the Democratic Party, which is one of the largest and most popular political parties in Hong Kong, and was an elected member of the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2008. The European People’s Party and European Democrats in the European Parliament named Mr Lee the first non-European recipient of the Schuman Medal in January 2000. In 1997, the National Endowment for Democracy presented its Democracy Award to Mr Lee at a Capitol Hill ceremony in Washington DC.
'On the global chessboard, we can no longer attempt to predict the future - whether of nations or of the international system - on the basis of past or present trends…We are living in a period of disruptions and discontinuity that is far from ending and is increasingly out of control.'
Jean-David Levitte, the Lowy Institute’s inaugural Distinguished European Fellow, wrote those prescient words in 2013. Jean-David Levitte is coming to Sydney to discuss this world of shocks and disruptions. Please join us at the Lowy Institute to hear his perspective on the threat of Islamic State in the Middle East and Europe, the state of the European project after Brexit, and the rise of new powers in Asia.
The annual Owen Harries Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia.
Jean-David Levitte was the senior foreign policy adviser to Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac and served on the presidential staff of Valery Giscard d’Estaing. He has held senior positions in the French Foreign Ministry, including as assistant secretary for Asia. He was the French ambassador to the United Nations in New York from 2000 to 2002 (chairing the Security Council on 9/11), and the Ambassador of France to the United States in Washington, DC during the war in Iraq.
The Australian Army has operated as an expeditionary continental army for most of its history. However, the 2016 Defence White Paper reflects an affirmation of strategic policy that positions Australia’s security within the maritime environment of the Indo-Pacific region. Does this mark a turning of the tide for Australia’s strategic defence operations?
On 4 October, the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Australia's Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, which explored the changing nature of Australia’s defence strategy in a new maritime environment and its implications for the Australian Army.
Lieutenant General Campbell was appointed Chief of the Australian Army on 16 May 2015. He served as Chief of Staff to General Peter Cosgrove and later Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston during their respective tenures as Chief of the Defence Force. He was appointed as Commander Joint Task Force 633 in 2011, responsible for all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East and Afghanistan, for which service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from Cambridge University, and is a graduate of the Australian Army Command and Staff College.
On 6 October the Lowy Institute hosted an address by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Dr Martin Parkinson PSM on the government’s work to strengthen the effectiveness of the G20 and the importance of promoting dialogue between governments, business, academics and non-government organisations. This address was also be the final public event for the Lowy Institute’s G20 Studies Centre.
Dr Martin Parkinson PSM was appointed as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in December 2015. He previously served as Secretary of the Department of the Treasury between March 2011 and December 2014. Between 1997 and 2000, he worked at the International Monetary Fund on the reform of the global financial architecture. He is a former member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and has received the Public Service Medal for his contribution to the development of economic policy.
On Friday, 30 September the Lowy Institute hosted The Hon Scott Morrison MP for an address on the importance of trade, investment, and positive immigration policies to Australia’s economic future.
According to this year’s Lowy Institute Poll, Australians are anxious about the prospect of a Trump presidency, and have serious reservations about China, despite it being our largest trading partner and ‘new best friend’ in Asia.
On 27 September, Poll author Alex Oliver convened a distinguished panel with MP and co-author of Two futures: Australia at a critical moment, entrepreneur Tim Watts, youth advocate Holly Ransom, and Sky News foreign affairs correspondent Jim Middleton for a discussion of some of the many thought-provoking findings of this year’s Lowy Institute Poll.
Interpreter Founding Editor Sam Roggeveen talks to former Financial Times China bureau chief Richard McGregor on Xi’s record as China’s leader, his reputation both at home and abroad, and how much control he really exercises over foreign policy decision-making
With the problems of fragile and conflict-affected states increasingly impossible to ignore, the international community has learned from bitter experience that our interventions need to be well calibrated to the political and tribal dynamics on the ground to have any chance of succeeding. On 22 September Lowy Institute Deputy Director Anthony Bubalo hosted Fred Smith for a captivating conversation focusing on reflections from Fred’s two years working as a diplomat and political officer on the frontline of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan, recently distilled into his fascinating memoir, The Dust of Uruzgan.
In his 20-year career at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Fred Smith has developed a specialisation in fragile and conflict-affected states, and carved out an unusual niche. His work as a peace monitor, radio broadcaster and musician following the Bougainville crisis is the subject of the documentary, Bougainville Sky.
Fred served for two years as a diplomat in southern Afghanistan, working alongside Australian soldiers in Uruzgan Province. Working on the Multinational Base in Tarin Kowt, as well as from a forward Operating Base in the Chora Valley, Fred’s second career as a musician came to the fore. His guitar served as a bridge, not only to the troops, but also to the people and tribal leaders of that war-torn region.
His acclaimed album Dust of Uruzgan earned him comparisons to the great Australian songwriters Eric Bogle, John Schumann and Don Walker. The title track was recorded by Lee Kernaghan on his bestselling Spirit of the ANZACs album. Fred has also written a book – The Dust of Uruzgan – the first comprehensive on-the-ground account of Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan. He is currently a Senior Policy Officer in the Civil Military and Stabilisation Policy Section of DFAT’s Humanitarian Division.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly sat down with ANU's Eve Warburton to discuss Jokowi's consolidation of power, how Jokowi's style differs from SBY, what's on Jokowi's policy agenda, and resource nationalism in Indonesia.
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Stephen Grenville speaks to Dr M Chatib Basri (former Indonesian finance minister and Thee Kian Wie distinguished visiting professor at the Australian National University), on the role of economics in Indonesian politics over the years, being humbled by political reality, where Jokowi is turning to for advice on economics, how the international economy is affecting Indonesia, and the problems with the nation's budget.
The Interpreter's Managing Editor Emma Connors talks to Lowy Institute Research Fellow Rodger Shanahan on the threat of foreign fighters leaving Iraq and Syria as Islamic State continues to weaken.
“A Trump presidency could open the way for China’s strategic dominance in Asia and elsewhere”, David Ignatius wrote recently in his Washington Post column.
Ignatius, one of America’s most distinguished foreign-policy writers, is coming to Melbourne to discuss the upcoming presidential poll, and what it means for America’s place in Asia and the world. On 22 August the Lowy Institute hosted an address from David at the National Gallery of Victoria on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and America’s direction under a new president.
David Ignatius is the Lowy Institute’s 2016 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow. David writes a foreign affairs column for the Washington Post and is one of America’s most respected foreign-policy commentators. David has also written eight spy novels. He joined The Post in 1986 and in 1990 he became foreign editor. He began writing his column in 1998 and continued even during a three-year stint as executive editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris. David has received multiple honours for his writing and journalism, including the Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary, Legion of Honor from the French Republic, the Urbino World Press Award from the Italian Republic, and a lifetime achievement award from the International Committee for Foreign Journalism.
Previous Lowy Institute Distinguished International Fellows were Kurt Campbell, Stephen Hadley and Ambassador Shyam Saran.
The Lowy Institute would like to thank its sponsor, Telstra.
On 16 August, the Lowy Institute hosted David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist and 2016 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow, for an address on the decay of the Middle East, the rise of a more assertive China, and America’s response to these challenges under a new president.
On 11 August, at the 2016 Lowy Institute Media Awards dinner, the keynote address was delivered by Michelle Guthrie, managing director of the ABC.
On 10 August the Lowy Institute hosted an address from James Cockayne, a strategist, international lawyer and writer.
A visiting lecturer at Columbia University, a Hauser scholar at New York University School of Law, and a University Medallist in government and public administration at the University of Sydney, Dr. Cockayne has worked in public service, academia and the advocacy arena. He was Co-Director of the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, leading their work in New York and Africa. Earlier, Dr. Cockayne served as Principal Legal Officer in the Transnational Crime and Extradition Units in the Australian Attorney-General’s Department; as Chair of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of International Criminal Justice; and also as a civil society member of the multistakeholder group that established an oversight mechanism for the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers.
Dr. Cockayne has at various times been a consultant and adviser to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the World Bank, the Center on Humanitarian Dialogue, International Alert, the Norwegian Peacebuilding Forum, the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, and the Global Leadership Forum.
His books include Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organized Crime (Hurst, forthcoming 2016); Peace Operations and Organized Crime: Enemies or Allies? (Routledge, 2011), edited with Adam Lupel; and Beyond Market Forces: Regulating the Global Security Industry (IPI, 2009).
Sydney became the world’s infrastructure capital in 2014 with the establishment of the Global Infrastructure Hub by the G20. On 4 August, the Lowy Institute hosted Global Infrastructure Hub CEO Chris Heathcote in conversation with G20 Studies Centre Project Director Tristram Sainsbury. Heathcote and Sainsbury discussed the Hub’s work to unlock an additional $2 trillion in global infrastructure capacity to 2030.
Chris Heathcote was appointed CEO of the Global Infrastructure Hub in June 2015. He has extensive international experience with large infrastructure projects. Previously, Chris was a Director of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets in the United Kingdom. His additional, recent, private sector experience includes positions held with WestLB AG and Lloyds Banking Group. During his time with these companies, Chris was involved in infrastructure projects in the United States, Europe, Turkey, China, the Ivory Coast and Australia.
Chris also served as head of project finance at Partnerships UK (a joint UK Treasury and privately-owned company, which promoted the Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnerships (PPP)), with a focus on major infrastructure projects including the Wembley National Stadium and London Underground. He has also advised the Brazilian Government on preparing and executing a PPP program, and co-authored of the UK Government White Paper “Meeting the Investment Challenge” while working in the UK Treasury. Chris also structured major road projects in Israel and South Africa.
Chris was also a founding partner of Hyder Infrastructure Investors in the mid-1990s, one of the early infrastructure equity funds. The fund was involved in financing of projects including Melbourne City Link, the Asian Infrastructure Fund and many United Kingdom public infrastructure projects funded with private capital.
In recent years China has been increasingly assertive, especially in its own Asia-Pacific neighbourhood. On 2 August RAND Corporation senior political scientist Dr Andrew Scobell explored what is China seeking and where Australia fits in this search.
Dr Andrew Scobell is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Prior to this he was an associate professor of international affairs at the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service and director of the China certificate program at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. From 1999 until 2007, he was associate research professor in the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College and adjunct professor of political science at Dickinson College, both located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Scobell is author of China's Search for Security (Columbia University Press, 2012) with Andrew J. Nathan, China's Use of Military Force: Beyond the Great Wall and the Long March (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Lowy Institute International Security Program Director Euan Graham talks to RAND Corporation's Andrew Scobell on the US-China relationship, and where it leaves Australia.
Emma Connors speaks to Sir Lawrence Freedman the Chinese perspective of the South China Sea, and our particularly tumultuous time in history.
On 27 July, Sir Lawrence Freedman, Vice-Principal and Professor of War Studies at King's College, explored the role of historical analogies in foreign policymaking. He also examined the importance of understanding the origins of contemporary events and the meaning of historical experience warning of the abuse of historical parallels and analogies, and the danger of stripping past events from their context.
A member of the official inquiry into the United Kingdom's role in the 2003 Iraq War, Sir Lawrence is a world-renowned strategist. He has also held research appointments at Nuffield College Oxford, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. A Fellow of the British Academy, Sir Lawrence is a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and Knight Commander of St Michael and St George (KCMG).
On 20 July at Paddington Town Hall, United States Vice President Joe Biden addressed the Lowy Institute and the United States Studies Centre on the Australia-US relationship.
On 19 July 1916, the Australian 5th and British 61st Divisions attacked German positions near Fromelles. In less than 24 hours the 5th had suffered 5533 casualties, making the Battle of Fromelles one of the bloodiest battles in Australia’s military history and a costly introduction to the Western Front.
On 18 July 2016, the Lowy Institute convened a panel of Dr Euan Graham, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program; Professors Hew Strachan from the University of St Andrews; Joan Beaumont from the Australian National University; and Jeffrey Grey from UNSW Canberra to reflect on the significance of Fromelles within the Allies’ strategy on the Western Front in 1916, and its wider social and national impact in Australia.
Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly talks to Cornell University's Thomas Pepinsky on the state of Malaysia's domestic politics, how the world sees Malaysia, and how it will likely position itself in the context of rising US-China tensions.
On 30 June, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion with Polling Program Director Alex Oliver, International Security Program Director Euan Graham, and International Economy Program Director Leon Berkelmans (moderated by Research Director Anthony Bubalo) to explore the repercussions of the 'leave' vote and discuss what Brexit will mean for Australia, our region and our international partners.
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Malcolm Cook speaks to Emma Connors on the inauguration of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines and what his leadership will likely mean for Philippine security policy.
The International Organisation for Migration will publish its Global Migrant Smuggling Report in June 2016. On 30 June, Dr Frank Laczko, Director of IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin, discussed current trends in migrant smuggling in Europe and Asia, its complex reality with human trafficking and asylum seeking. Dr Jiyoung Song, Program Director of Migration and Border Policy at the Lowy Institute, moderated the session.
Frank Laczko is the Director of IOM’s recently established Global Migration Data Analysis Centre. He was previously based in Geneva, where he led IOM’s Migration Research Division. He is the co-chair of the Data and Research Group of the Global Migration Group, editor of IOM/Springer Global Migration Issues book series and co-editor of Migration Policy Practice, a journal for migration policymakers and practitioners.
In recent years Russia’s military adventures abroad have captured the most attention in the West. But as, if not more, important is what has been happening inside Putin’s Russia. On 28 June, Lowy Institute Deputy Director Anthony Bubalo hosted a conversation with two of Australia’s leading Russia watchers, Stephen Fortescue and Kyle Wilson, who discussed Russia's domestic political and economic developments and prospects.
Stephen Fortescue is Honorary Associate Professor in Russian Politics at the University of New South Wales, and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for European Studies, Australian National University. His areas of research interest include the contemporary Russian policy-making process, business-state relations, and Russia's commercial involvement in the Asia Pacific. He received his PhD in Soviet Politics from the Australian National University
Kyle Wilson is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University. From 2004-2013 he was Senior Analyst for Russia and Central Asia at the Office of National Assessments. From 1981-2004 he was an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and served in Australian missions in Warsaw, Moscow and Beijing. He was educated at the Australian National University, Moscow State University and Leningrad State University.
It has been nearly two years since Joko Widodo was elected president of Indonesia. Though he has launched an ambitious domestic reform agenda, critics claim that Jokowi has overseen an erosion of Indonesia's international influence, and has strained relations with its neighbours through nationalist policies on drug trafficking and illegal fishing. Others argue that Jokowi is merely seeking to put Indonesia first after 10 years under SBY, a period during which Indonesia focused more on its image abroad than reform at home.
On 21 June, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron Connelly and Dewi Fortuna Anwar. Professor Anwar is among Indonesia's leading scholars and practitioners of foreign policy. She has served as the chief foreign policy advisor to both the current vice president and his predecessor. Professor Anwar previously served as a top foreign policy advisor to President BJ Habibie, and as the first director of the Habibie Center in Jakarta. She is a professor of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), and completed doctoral studies at Monash.
On Monday, 20 June the Lowy Institute hosted the Hon. Julie Bishop MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, as part of a series of lectures by political leaders in the lead-up to the 2016 federal election.
On 31 May the Institute hosted the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, who spoke on how Australia can be a better international citizen.
Elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Sydney in 1998, Ms Plibersek’s ministerial appointments have included Minister for Health, Minister for Medical Research, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for Human Services, Minister for the Status of Women, and Minister for Housing.
In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping put forward the proposal to boost Eurasian economic integration and infrastructure building through its ambitious “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” initiatives. It is widely regarded as President Xi’s signature economic as well as foreign policy undertaking. The project could involve trillions of dollars of potential investment across many continents including Australia’s immediate neighbouring region: Southeast Asia.
On 30 May the Lowy Institute’s Peter Cai spoke to one of Australia’s leading experts on Chinese infrastructure investment, Grant Dooley, the head of Hastings Infrastructure Fund Asia’s practice and the former Australian Consul-General in Guangzhou, China.
The Lowy Institute is grateful for the support of our event partner, AMP.
Emma Connors talks to Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove about how the rise of Donald Trump has affected the political mood in America, and what his candidacy (and prospective presidency) would mean for Australia.
Rates of family and sexual violence in Papua New Guinea are among the highest in the world, with 70% of women experiencing some degree of physical or sexual assault in their lifetime. Children are also significantly affected. While much is said about the levels of violence, less is heard about important work being done in all sectors of Papua New Guinea to address this pervasive issue. The new approaches being taken warrant broader attention both within and outside of Papua New Guinea.
On 20 May, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel of exceptional leaders from Papua New Guinea’s government, civil society and private sector to discuss these approaches.
Anna Solomon is the Secretary for Papua New Guinea’s Department for Community Development and Religion and is leading the government’s response. Denga Ilave is the Operations Manager for Femili PNG, the Papua New Guinean NGO that runs the innovative Lae Case Management Centre. Kymberley Kepore is CEO of the Oil Search Foundation, which has made gender-based violence one of its top priorities. Kevin Byrne is the Deputy Chair of the Business Coalition for Women, a group of companies and corporate leaders who are working together to drive positive change for women and businesses in Papua New Guinea.
On 19 May, the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Dr Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House in London. Dr Niblett assessed the state of the UK's EU debate, the risks and opportunities that either outcome could entail for Britain, and the ways in which Britain's decision could influence the future evolution of the EU as well as its external relations.
On 19 May, the Lowy Institute's International Economy Program Director Dr Leon Berkelmans hosted Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, for an in-conversation event. Dr Berkelmans and Mr Wolf discussed the challenges the world economy faces, including the Chinese slowdown, Brexit, and inequality.
Leon Berkelmans talks to Financial Times chief economics commentator Martin Wolf on the vote for Britain to leave the EU.
Emma Connors talks to Chatham House's Robin Niblett on the vote for Britain to leave the EU.
On 17 May, Senator Richard Di Natale, leader of the Greens, addressed the Lowy Institute on the 21st century's biggest challenges, and how to build a confident Australia to face them.
Sam Roggeveen talks to Euan Graham about his new paper, 'The Lion and the Kangaroo: Australia's strategic partnership with Singapore'.
On May 4, the Lowy Institute hosted a lecture from Nonresident Fellow and National correspondent for The Atlantic James Fallows. Fallows discussed the ascent of Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, what this means for the GOP, how a Clinton-Trump contest would play out, and the state of politics in America.
National correspondent for The Atlantic and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow James Fallows speaks with Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove on what Trump's presumptive claim to the Republican presidential nomination means for America.
Ashley Townshend talks to the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen on China's new tactical approach to maritime security, and what implications it has for the region. Townshend also discusses the upcoming UNCLOS arbitration case on China's 'nine-dash line' territorial claim in the South China Sea, and what China might do should the ruling go against it.
On 26 April the Lowy Institute hosted Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth. He and Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove discussed how the politics of fear drove global developments of 2015.
How will Islamic State likely meet its demise, and what are the prospects for stability in Iraq after this occurs?
On 21 April, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation between Hayder al-Khoei and Rodger Shanahan on Iraq after Islamic State. Hayder is a Lowy Institute Middle East Visiting Fellow, supported by the Australian Government through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo speaks to IPAC's Navhat Nuraniyah and Sidney Jones on their newly released joint paper, 'Indonesian students in Egypt and Turkey'.
On 15 April, Lowy Institute Deputy Director Anthony Bubalo hosted Sidney Jones and Nava Nuraniyah from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta to discuss a new Lowy Institute Report on Indonesian students in Egypt and Turkey. Based on extensive interviews, the report examines the impact on these students of regional events, from the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
While the slowing global economy has pushed countries to explore a new cadre of sometimes unproven policies in the quest for growth, many have not yet fully committed to the full participation of women as economic actors.
On 6 April, the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Arancha González, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, who spoke on women’s empowerment, the power of women as economic actors and the importance of investment in women.
Emma Connors talks to Aaron Connelly about Myanmar under Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, and what to expect from the new civilian government.
The 2016 Lowy Lecture, delivered on 23 March by Malcolm Turnbull, was the Prime Minister’s first major address on Australia’s role in the world.
Jonathan Pryke speaks to Sean Dorney about his recent Lowy Institute Paper, 'The Embarrassed Colonialist', and how Australia views contemporary Papua New Guinea.
After 40 years of independence, there are good reasons to be optimistic about the future of Papua New Guinea. The country is endowed with vast natural resources, a capacity to feed itself, and a young population. Papua New Guinea also benefits from its proximity to the global centre of economic gravity in East Asia. But negative trends — in the economy, law and order, health and education — do not augur well for progress in raising living standards. The next generation of leaders in Papua New Guinea will need to be innovative if they are to turn these trends around and implement policies that deliver rather than promise long-term sustainable development.
On 17 March the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Sean Dorney and Jenny Hayward-Jones, who discussed Jenny’s research on the challenges the next generation of leaders in Papua New Guinea will face.
Sam Roggeveen talks to Melanesia Program Director Jenny Hayward-Jones about her final research paper on Papua New Guinea’s next generation of leaders and what's changed in the Pacific Islands region in Jenny's time as Program Director.
On 15 March, NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully delivered an address at the Lowy Institute outlining New Zealand's international agenda for 2016, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific and New Zealand’s final year on the United Nations Security Council.
On 8 March, Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted a conversation with rising parliamentarians Dr Jim Chalmers MP and Senator Linda Reynolds CSC on Australia's place in the world.
Euan Graham, Sam Roggeveen and Michael Fullilove discuss the Australian Government's new Defence White Paper.
On 17 February, International Economy Program Director Leon Berkelmans hosted a conversation with one of the most high profile power couples in economics, Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson. The discussion covered Betsey’s time as a member of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, the current state of the US economy, the gender problem economics has, economics in pop culture, and Justin's work with the New York Times.
On 11 February at the National Gallery of Victoria, Research Director Anthony Bubalo, International Security Program Director Dr Euan Graham, Polling Program Director Alex Oliver and Melanesia Research Fellow Jonathan Pryke discussed the big issues that are likely to dominate the international policy agenda in 2016.
How has the digital era affected diplomacy and how we measure soft power?
On 15 February Alex Oliver, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Polling Program, hosted a panel consisting of Portland Communications' Jonathan McClory, British High Commissioner Menna Rawlings and Rob Tranter, First Assistant Secretary, Public Diplomacy and Communications Division for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Leon Berkelmans talks with Visiting G20 Studies Centre Fellow and Brookings Senior Fellow David Dollar on the state of the yuan. China’s foreign reserves depleted less in January than December but still fell by $99.5 billion. David addresses concerns about the accuracy of the Chinese data, capital flight, and the possibility of a significant yuan devaluation.
The Chinese economy is going through an uncertain transition, while at the same time Beijing has assumed the presidency of the G20. On 8 February the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation on China’s economy and China's future in the governance architecture with long-time China scholar and economist David Dollar and Lowy Institute International Economy Program Director Leon Berkelmans.
Russia under President Vladimir Putin is reasserting its role in international politics everywhere from the Middle East to East Asia. On 5 February the Lowy Institute's Anthony Bubalo hosted a discussion on Moscow's global ambitions with our leading Russia expert, Dr Matthew Sussex.
On 2 February, Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove chaired a panel of Institute experts who examined the key issues likely to dominate the international agenda in Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific.
As part of the Lowy Institute's Books of the Year 2015 series, we speak with Dan Gardner, co-author, with Philip Tetlock, of Superforecasting.
On Tuesday 8 December, the Lowy Institute held a panel discussion on the themes of Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove's ABC 2015 Boyer Lectures. Joining Dr Fullilove on the panel were novelist Anna Funder and broadcaster Tom Switzer. This wide-ranging and spirited discussion covered Australia's evolving place in the world, various aspects of our national culture, and heard both sides of the republic debate.
In an address to the Lowy Institute, the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett AO CSC RAN, discussed the interconnected nature of naval power in the twenty first century, and how it provides greater military weight and agility to the Australian government in meeting the demands of national security.
John Connor, CEO of The Climate Institute, speaks with John Gooding about his reaction to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's address to the Lowy Institute on Labor's climate policy.
In the lead up to the 2015 Paris climate change negotiations, the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, gave a major policy address at the Lowy Institute for International Policy outlining the Opposition’s position on international action on climate change.
After a flurry of activity, Australia has signed free trade agreements with many of its trade partners, and there could be more coming down the pipeline. Are these agreements transformative, are they job destroying, do they sign over too much sovereignty, or are they much ado about nothing?
On 26 November, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion chaired by Lowy Nonresident Fellow Stephen Grenville, with panellists Leon Berkelmans, Director of the International Economy Program, Jessica Irvine, from the Sydney Morning Herald, and Professor Luke Nottage from the University of Sydney Law School.
As the post-World War II international order undergoes an uncertain transformation, how will India position itself in Asia and beyond as an emerging and aspiring power? On 11 November, former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran delivered the 2015 Owen Harries Lecture on India's role in this new global order.
The annual Owen Harries Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary and 2015 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow Shyam Saran speaks with Sam Roggeveen about the challenges and opportunities facing India today.
On November 4 the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, officially launched 'The G20 and the Future of International Economic Governance'.
Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Mike Callaghan and G20 Research Fellow Tristram Sainsbury have brought together an impressive collection of expert contributors to assess the impact of the Australian 2014 summit in the context of the year’s broader geopolitical challenges.
On Tuesday 27 October, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with two of Australia’s leading Middle East experts, Dr Rodger Shanahan and Dr Sarah Phillips. Chaired by the Lowy Institute’s Research Director, Anthony Bubalo, the conversation explored the region’s ongoing instability, from Yemen and the horn or Africa to Iraq and Syria, and how regional states in particular are responding.
The Lowy Institute, together with the Asia Pacific Professionals Association Ltd, hosted a panel discussion exploring gender parity issues in Papua New Guinea, where women face many significant challenges. High-profile speakers from Papua New Guinea and Australia discussed how the private sector can increase the diversity of the work force and expand the opportunities available to women within the changing commercial and social environment of Papua New Guinea – the fastest growing economy in the world in 2015. International evidence shows that investing in women and girls produces higher economic growth and better living standards in developing countries. The panel speakers provided perspectives from their specific industry sector and identify the steps that have been taken to address gender parity issues, as well as what more could be done. The sectors represented include law, education, energy and resources, banking and commerce. The Lowy Institute’s Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, chaired the discussion.
Photo: Flickr/DFAT
On 8 October the Lowy Institute hosted Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor of The Australian. Drawing on his recently published memoir, When We Were Young and Foolish, Sheridan and Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo explored the critical and unrecognised role that foreign policy has played in forming the hearts and minds of two generations of Australian political leaders, including Tony Abbott, Bob Carr, Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Costello.
Photo: Flickr/Kyle Taylor
In a little over a year’s time, Americans will elect a new president. What are the key foreign policy challenges from Europe and the Middle East to Asia that President Obama will bequeath to his successor? On 24 September the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with Ambassador Martin Indyk, one of America’s leading foreign policy thinkers, on the international issues that are likely to figure in the presidential election campaign and that will confront the new president in his or her first year in office.
Ambassador Martin S. Indyk is executive vice president of the Brookings Institution. From 2013 to 2014 he served as the U.S. special envoy for the Israeli Palestinian negotiations. Previously, Ambassador Indyk was vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program and a senior fellow and the founding director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001. Ambassador Indyk is a member of the Lowy Institute Board.
Interpreter editor Sam Roggeveen talks with Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo and senior correspondent for The Age Daniel Flitton on what the ascent of Malcolm Turnbull means for Australia's foreign and national security policies.
In this landmark year for Papua New Guinea, the Lowy Institute convened a panel of three of Papua New Guinea’s prominent emerging leaders to discuss the future of their country and the likely challenges that their generation will face. The panel included Allan Bird, agribusiness expert and host of Tanim Graun – Papua New Guinea’s answer to Q&A Serena Sumanop, Executive Director of The Voice Inc, a non-government organisation which fosters leadership skills amongst Papua New Guinea’s university students and Jeffry Feeger, a popular Papua New Guinean artist. Their discussion was moderated by Sean Dorney, former long-serving ABC correspondent in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow.
Photo: Flickr/Steve Shattuck
2015's Lowy Lecture was delivered by General (Ret.) David Petraeus AO on Tuesday 2 September.
General Petraeus is one of the most outstanding US generals of recent times. He commanded coalition forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq with great success. He also served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency until 2012. He holds a PhD in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. General Petraeus remains an influential adviser to US policymakers and, as Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, one of the leading thinkers about geopolitical developments and America’s role in the world.
The annual Lowy Lecture is the Lowy Institute's signature event each year, at which a prominent individual reflects on Australia’s role in the world and the world’s influence on Australia. Past Lowy Lecturers have included H.E. Dr Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany; Rupert Murdoch AC, Executive Chairman of News Corp; Lionel Barber, Editor of the Financial Times; and Prime Minister John Howard OM AC, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.
Lowy Institute Research Associate Brendan Noone-Thomas interviews US strategist P.W Singer about a range of topics explored in his new book, 'Ghost Fleet'.
More details on 'Ghost Fleet' can be found at www.ghostfleetbook.com
On August 26, Dr Michael Fulliove, the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, conducted a conversation with leading US strategist (and now novelist) P.W. Singer on the future of war.
You can find details on P.W. Singer's book 'Ghost Fleet' here: http://www.ghostfleetbook.com
On 20 August 2015, the Lowy Institute hosted an address from Peter Varghese AO, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Mr Varghese presented his perspective on key themes in Australia’s Foreign Policy.
The keynote address at the 2015 Lowy Institute Media Award dinner was delivered by Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. Thomson has served as editor-in-chief of Dow Jones, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and editor of The Times. He has held several posts at the Financial Times, including Editor of the US edition, Editor of the Weekend FT and Assistant Editor. He has also been a correspondent himself in Tokyo and in Beijing.
Following the address, Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove announced that Paul Maley of The Australian had won this year's award for his work on Australian foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria.
On Tuesday 4 August the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation with one of America’s most insightful foreign policy analysts. David J. Rothkopf, CEO and Editor of the FP Group, spoke with the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove, on the topic of US foreign policy after the Obama administration.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, the Minister for Justice and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism, addressed the Lowy Institute on 24 July 2015 to discuss Australia’s counter-terrorism strategy. The address focused on the new wave of terrorism facing Australia, and the steps the Australian Government is taking to counter it, particularly through the Countering Violent Extremism program.
On 21 July, James M. Lindsay, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the US Council on Foreign Relations, spoke with Anthony Bubalo on the future of US leadership in the world. The conversation addressed US leadership challenges in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and preview the 2016 presidential election.
James M. Lindsay is Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and the Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was previously the inaugural director of the University of Texas at Austin's Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Dr. Lindsay also served as professor of political science at the University of Iowa and Director for Global Issues and Multilateral Affairs on the National Security Council staff. He is coauthor, with Ivo H. Daalder, of America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy. Dr. Lindsay holds an AB in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and an MA, an MPhil, and a PhD from Yale University.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of Australia’s best-remembered foreign policy speeches – Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell’s 1965 parliamentary statement of opposition to Australia’s participation in the Vietnam war. In honour of this anniversary the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted Graham Freudenberg AM, the principal author of Calwell's speech, for a discussion on the role of foreign policy speeches, and how that role has changed in the last half-century. Mr Freudenberg is the dean of Australian speechwriters, having worked for no fewer than six Labor leaders and written many of Australia’s most celebrated political speeches. He has also authored a number of books including Churchill and Australia (2008) and his memoir, A Figure of Speech (2005).
Joining Mr Freudenberg on the panel was Michael Cooney, speechwriter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and author of The Gillard Project (2015).
Director of the Lowy Institute's International Economy Program Leon Berkelmans describes the latest developments in Europe, and possible implications for Asia.
On Tuesday 30 June, Lowy Institute International Economy Program Director Leon Berkelmans spoke to the Economics Society of Australia on negative interest rates.
On Monday 22 June, the Lowy Institute hosted a conversation between Lowy Institute International Economy and G20 Studies Centre Program Director Dr Leon Berkelmans and Lowy Institute visiting scholar Dr Yu Ye. Dr Ye is a political economist and Associate Professor at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), one of China’s leading think tanks.
As the Lowy Institute releases its eleventh annual Lowy Institute Poll, Alex Oliver speaks with Sol Lebovic, who has provided independent advice and technical support to the Lowy Institute on our polling program for several years. Sol is one of Australia’s most distinguished pollsters, founding Newspoll in 1985 and directing it for more than two decades.
On 11 June the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a special event with Australian Foreign Minister The Hon Julie Bishop MP. The Minister outlined her vision for Australian foreign policy in an evolving strategic and economic global environment, and how the expansion of Australia’s diplomatic network – the largest single increase in 40 years – will support the Australian Government’s efforts to make Australia a safe and more prosperous nation.
Peter Greste is an award-winning journalist and correspondent. He has worked for a number of news organisations including Reuters and the BBC before joining Al-Jazeera's English news channel.
In December 2013 Greste and two Al-Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were arrested in Cairo on charges that included aiding a terrorist group. Greste was deported after spending 400 days in an Egyptian jail but is still facing criminal charges, alongside Fahmy and Mohamed, in an ongoing trial.
On 10 June, Greste joined Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo for a conversation on his time in jail, the prospects for Fahmy and Mohamed, Al-Jazeera as a news organisation, and what his experience means for press freedom in Egypt and around the world.
Later this week Australia is due to host a regional summit on countering violent extremism.
In this podcast Anthony Bubalo talks to Dr Anne Aly about this summit and a previous summit on the topic held by the US in February 2015.
What makes a young man or woman want to travel to Iraq to join Islamic State? What motivates so-called 'lone wolves' to plan acts of terrorist violence in Australia? The Lowy Institute was pleased to host distinguished Australian academic Dr Anne Aly to explore these and other questions as she examined why some individuals and groups transition from radical thought to violent extremism.
Enacted in 1980, the one child policy was designed to allow China's development to forge ahead. Demographers estimate that at between 100 and 400 million births were averted as a direct result of this policy, and some Chinese argue that this has helped China achieve the momentous task of lifting over 550 million people out of poverty. However, the policy has been controversial, with accusations of human rights abuses in implementation, unusually high sex ratios at birth, as well as concerns about the social implications of a generation of single children.
On Monday 25 May, acclaimed journalist and novelist Ms Xue Xinran joined Lowy Institute East Asia program Director Merriden Varrall in a conversation about how the one child policy, introduced in 1978, is affecting the Chinese social, economic, and political landscape.
For Australia, China's foreign policy, particularly in the Asian region, is of critical importance. To respond effectively to China's activities in a way that protects Australia's interests, we need to know not only what China is doing, but why. There appears to be a contradiction in Chinese foreign policy that Xi Jinping is prioritising good relations with countries on the periphery, however at the same time, insists China will not compromise on any issue pertaining to its territorial sovereignty. How can this apparent tension be resolved, particularly when China blames tensions around its periphery on the U.S. Rebalance to Asia, not on its own policies. The U.S. says China is intimidating its neighbours and not abiding by international law. Who is right?
On 21 May, John Garnaut and Bonnie Glaser discussed China's regional policy with Lowy Institute East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall.
On 20-21 May 2015 the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted a conference on international economic governance.
This introductory session featured Reserve Bank Deputy Governer Philip Lowe and Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove. The session outlined the state of international governance in 2015, with an overview of the G20's history, tracing its development into a premier forum for managing the global economy and the implications of recent geopolitical developments. There were also reflections on Australia’s G20 presidency and on China’s future presidency in 2016.
Energy and climate change have been hotly contested on the G20 agenda. The 2015 Leaders’ Summit will be two weeks before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 meeting in December 2015. This session of the G20 Studies Centre international economic governance conference delved into questions of how to transform the international energy architecture and what the G20 could achieve with regards to climate change. Michelle Grattan concluded the session with a broader conversation about G20 communications.
On the 8 May, the Lowy Institute hosted its twelfth annual New Voices conference on the theme “Is Geopolitics Returning to Asia?” After the conference, convenor Ashley Townshend caught up with New Voices panellists Dr Cui Lei, Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, and Michael Mazza, Research Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss Chinese and U.S. views on island-building and maritime security in the South China Sea.
The intentions behind China's activities in the South China Sea and East China Sea are the source of considerable debate in Australia, in the region, and around the world. China asserts it is peacefully protecting its historic sovereignty. Many Western analysts fear that China is aggressively attempting to become the predominant power in the region. However, despite heated discussion, it is difficult to say with certainty what China is aiming to achieve, or what the implications and unintended consequences might be.
On 19 May Lowy Nonresident Fellows Bonnie Glaser and Linda Jakobson and East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall examined of the motivations behind China's activities in the maritime arena, drawing on their many years of experience working on China's foreign policy.
On Thursday 14 May the Lowy Institute hosted the Hon Peter O’Neill, MP CMG, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
2015 is a defining year for Papua New Guinea. The country will record the highest GDP growth rate in the world this year. Papua New Guinea faces serious development challenges but is making progress with the introduction of free education and healthcare and the expected completion of major infrastructure projects. The Papua New Guinea government will host the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit and the Pacific Games in 2015. In his address, Prime Minister O’Neill will reflect on Papua New Guinea’s place in the world as it celebrates 40 years of independence from Australia this year.
On 29 April, Hayden Cooper, winner of the 2014 Lowy Institute Media Award, discussed his time reporting for the ABC on the Middle East, including some of the big stories he covered, from the Peter Greste trial in Egypt to the 2014 war in Gaza.
Australian Foreign Julie Bishop is about to visit Tehran. Middle East expert Rodger Shanahan discusses her agenda.
Australians and Indonesians learn much of what they know about each other through the media. Yet polling shows neither side has a deep understanding of the other.
On Monday 13 April, Lowy Institute Indonesia expert Aaron Connelly moderated a panel discussion with Andini Effendi, Senior International Correspondent of Metro TV, based in Jakarta, and ABC Senior reporter and former Jakarta correspondent Helen Brown, where they discussed the shared challenges facing the press in both countries.
The event also featured other participants from the day's inaugural Lowy Institute Media Dialogue, as well as questions from audience attendees including Tom Switzer, Geraldine Doogue, and Stephen Grenville.
On 2 April the United States and Iran announced that they had agreed parameters for a comprehensive nuclear agreement to be concluded by the end of June 2015.
On 9 April the Lowy Institute convened a distinguished panel chaired by Lowy Institute Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove, to discuss the outcome of these high-stakes negotiations. Anthony Bubalo, Research Director at the Lowy Institute, John Carlson AM, former Director General, Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office and Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor with The Australian, considered and discussed the implications of any nuclear agreement on security and proliferation in the Middle East and the wider world.
Professor Cheng Li from the Brookings Institution speaks with the Lowy Institute's Dr Merriden Varrall regarding China's foreign policy under Xi Jinping.
China's role in international affairs is growing rapidly, but how much do we really understand about who is making decisions in China, and why?
In the Lowy Institute's annual China lecture, Professor Cheng Li, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, examined how the current Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping sees the connection between the international and China's domestic situation, and analysed what implications these views have for Chinese foreign policy.
Professor Li discussed how the Xi leadership sees China's relationship with existing norms and institutions, and the rationale behind creating new institutions such as the AIIB and the 'One Belt One Road'. He also looked at what Chinese leaders want to achieve when they head up the G20 in 2016.
The Lowy Institute is grateful to AMP for their kind support of this event series.
Distinguished historian of Southeast Asia Milton Osborne discusses the achievements of Lee Kuan Yew, who died earlier this week.
The new head of ANU’s National Security College and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow, Professor Rory Medcalf, discusses his views that Australia needs to rethink how it approaches and considers national security and defence. The interviewer is Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo.
Professor Medcalf outlines what new security risks Australia faces, and why he believes this security rethink is necessary. Anthony also asks Rory which nations he thinks are key strategic partners for Australia in the region:
Prof Bernard Haykel says the threat of returning fighters has been overstated. Most go to Syria and Iraq with no ambition of returning.
To commemorate International Women’s Day 2015, the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted a special ‘Women in Foreign Policy’ panel. Jenny Hayward-Jones, Lauren Williams, Elaine Pearson and Geraldine Doogue discussed the gender challenges faced by women in Melanesia, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, as well as their personal experiences perusing careers that research, report and advocate gender issues in foreign policy.
Few countries around the world have been untouched by the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and Indonesia is no exception. Extremists groups in Indonesia have pledged allegiance to Islamic State and a small but significant number of Indonesians have joined the ranks of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.
On 10 March, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host a conversation with one of the world’s leading experts on Islamist and extremist groups in Indonesia, Sidney Jones. From 2002 to 2013, Sidney worked with the International Crisis Group, first as Southeast Asia project director, then from 2007 as senior adviser to the Asia program.
On Thursday 5 March new AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin outlined his vision for the AFP’s future, in particular highlighting how a new approach to the AFP's longstanding engagement with international and national partners will help Australia’s law enforcement agencies protect Australia from a range of criminal and other threats. He also addressed questions from the audience regarding the prospect of the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia, foreign fighters, and working with state police forces.
Dr Philippa Brant's first-of-its-kind research tracks all China's foreign aid in the Pacific Islands region. In this interview she discusses her findings.
The slowdown in China's economic growth is making headlines around the world, raising a number of important questions. Given that the Chinese Party-state’s political legitimacy is to some extent based on improving economic well-being, to what extent will the slowdown in GDP affect political and social stability in China? What ramifications will it have for the Australian and global economies? At a more fundamental level, how do we reconcile the apparently deepening contradictions between Mao-era ideology and market-oriented reform?
Join John Garnaut, Angus Bell and Merriden Varrall in an in-depth discussion of these issues, drawing on their many years of experience working on China.
Greece has bought itself four more months. What needs to happen in that time? Lowy Institute economist Leon Berkelmans explains.
Although the recent peaceful democratic transitions in Indonesia and Sri Lanka point to the very real progress towards more inclusive politics in Asia, the counter-currents in places like Thailand and Bangladesh show that the international community would be unwise to become complacent. The increasing power and reach of radical movements in the Middle East show how easily conflicts like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ukraine can metastasise across vulnerable and excluded communities. The growing power and confidence of China and India is ushering a new era of geopolitical competition in Asia and the world, but they also bring new resources and new thinking to the fight for global and regional security.
Despite much fretting from the Australian strategic commentariat, over the last decade Japan and Australia have developed a security partnership second only in depth to their respective alliance relationships with the United States. Under Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Abe, the partnership has and likely will continue to deepen and broaden.
Sam Roggeveen talks with Aaron Connelly about last-minute diplomatic efforts to save Chan and Sukumaran from execution, and whether the death penalty will ever be abolished in Indonesia.
Michael Fullilove discusses his Financial Times opinion piece on Australia's political leadership malaise.
Sir Simon Fraser is Permanent Undersecretary of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the senior policy adviser to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
2014 Year in Review: Jenny Hayward-Jones and Mark Tamsitt on the Pacific Islands by Lowy Institute
2014 Year in Review: Leon Berkelmans and Stephen Grenville on the global economy by Lowy Institute
2014 Year in Review: Merriden Varrall and Rory Medcalf on security issues in Asia by Lowy Institute
On 27 November 2014, migration and refugee expert Dr Khalid Koser addressed the Lowy Institute on why the 1951 UN Refugee Convention needs to be reformed.
Lowy Institute Middle East experts Anthony Bubalo and Rodger Shanahan discuss the extension of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, and what this means for the process.
On 17 November 2014, Her Excellency Dr Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivered the 2014 Lowy Lecture at the Westin Sydney.
Chancellor Merkel's address begins at 6:50. The Q&A session with Lowy Institute Executive Director begins at 31:29.
This year's Owen Harries Lecture was delivered by 2014 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow Stephen J. Hadley. Mr Hadley's speech discusses a 'new model' of power relations between the US and China, and what both sides can do to achieve it.
Lowy Institute Indonesia Fellow, Aaron L. Connelly discusses the inauguration of new Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo
This week Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised to 'shirtfront' Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Brisbane G20 Summit. The Interpreter's Sam Roggeveen spoke to Mike Callaghan, head of the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre, about this recent verbal fussilade, and what it means for November's G20 summit in Brisbane.
On 9 October 2014, Lowy Institute East Asia Program Director Merriden Varrall and Fairfax Media's Asia Pacific editor John Garnaut discussed what corruption means in China today, drawing on their experiences living and working in Beijing.
Director of the East Asia Program, Dr Merriden Varrall discusses Hong Kong's umbrella protests.
On 24 September 2014 US Ambassador Martin Indyk, one of America’s foremost experts on the region and a Director of the Lowy Institute’s Board, addressed the Lowy Institute on the current turmoil in the Middle East.
Lowy Institute Research Director Anthony Bubalo speaks with Sidney Jones, Director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict about Indonesia and the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
An interview with the authors of a new Canberra-based political thriller, 'The Mandarin Code'.