Lowy Institute

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 Pete...

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...

'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...

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 a...

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...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, you...

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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 conversatio...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 affectin...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“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 addre...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 11 August, at the 2016 Lowy Institute Media Awards dinner, the keynote address was delivered by Michelle Guthrie, managing director of the ABC. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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-D...

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 cap...

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 th...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emma Connors speaks to Sir Lawrence Freedman the Chinese perspective of the South China Sea, and our particularly tumultuous time in history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 In...

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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....