Lowy Institute

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...

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. See omnystudio.com/lis...

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 caree...

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 Gen...

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 inst...

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 Pu...