Diplomates – A Geopolitical Chinwag

Jeff Bleich was US Ambassador to Australia from 2009 to 2013. A distinguished legal and political professional, he is the Chair of the Fulbright Scholarship Board and now heads up the Jeff Bleich Centre for the US Alliance in Digital Technology, Security, and Governance at Flinders University in Australia Misha Zelinsky caught up with Jeff for a chat about why the Trump Impeachment is bigger than...

Sweden is often considered to be the heartland of social democracy - but that may no longer be the case. Benedict Hugosson is a global expert in political campaigning. He has lead national field campaigns for the Social Democrats in Sweden and is a leading thinker in political engagement strategies and tactics. An Australian born Harvard graduate, Ben has trained activists in Europe, Africa and th...

Emily Lau is one of the most famous politicians in Hong Kong. She was the leader of the Democratic Party and the first woman to be elected into Hong Kong's legislature. A former journalist, Emily is a passionate defender of press freedoms and free speech. She shares some important lessons for anyone who cares about freedom of expression and democracy. Emily joined Misha Zelinsky for a chinwag abou...

Alex Oliver is the Director of Research at the Lowy Institute where she oversees the annual Lowy Institute Poll. Alex in an expert in foreign affairs and has authored several major studies on Australia’s diplomacy. She is a prolific author for international press including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal and BBC.com and for all major Australian publications. Misha Zelinsky...

Wayne Swan is the President of the Labor Party. He served as Australia’s Treasurer from 2007 to 2013 and was Deputy Prime Minister. Wayne is credited with helping save Australia from the GFC and in 2011 was crowned World Finance Minister of the year. As the author of numerous books on social policy, he has lead the domestic and global debates on the dangers of economic inequality. Wayne Swan joine...

Dr Charles Edel is a Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He was the Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College, advised the Secretary of State John Kerry on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific and was a Henry Luce scholar at Peking University. Charles is the co-author of ‘The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019)’ and his e...

Chris Bowen is the Member for McMahon in the Australian Parliament. In his time in public office, he has served as Treasurer, Minister for Human Services, Minister for Immigration, Minister for Financial Services, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Competition Policy. As the author of the books of ‘Hearts and Minds’ and ‘The Money Men’, Chris is a noted public policy thinker and expert. Chris jo...

Max Bergmann is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on European security and U.S.-Russia policy. Previously he served in the U.S. Department of State where he focused on political-military affairs, arms control and international security. He was also speechwriter to Secretary of State John Kerry. A graduate of LSE, Max joined the show to discuss foreign interferen...

Ambassador Curtis Chin served as the US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank. In doing so, he became only the fourth US ambassador of Chinese heritage. As one of the world's foremost experts on the Asia-Pacific region, Curtis now serves as the Asia Fellow of the nonpartisan Milken Institute and works with a range of startups and impact funds in Asia. Curtis joined Misha Zelinsky for a chat abo...