Lowy Institute

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 P...

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 Kausik...

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...

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...

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 wel...

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...

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...

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 Afg...

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. Jo...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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...

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...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Austra...

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 recov...

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 fo...

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 Au...

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...

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 w...

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 refle...

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 ‘nega...

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 Pre...

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 Pre...

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...

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...