Lowy Institute

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 difficulti...

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 Mala...

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 m...

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...

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, Directo...

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 p...

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...

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 Ea...

“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 Nation...

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. See omnystudio.com/l...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 overco...

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, Ru...

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...

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 v...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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...

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 U...

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 Unite...

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...

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 mod...

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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...

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 s...