Lowy Institute

The United Nations is facing two simultaneous disruptions: the planned UN80 reforms, timed to refine the organisation’s structure and mandate during its 80th anniversary, and budget cuts led by the Trump administration. Lowy Institute Research Fellow Grace Stanhope speaks with UN financing expert and author Dr Ronny Patz, and Ryan Neelam, the Lowy Institute’s Director of Public Opinion...

The Pacific Islands face converging transnational and geopolitical threats, yet existing intelligence exchanges are fragmented and inadequate to meet the scale of these challenges. The Lowy Institute’s Oliver Nobetau and Mihai Sora discuss a new policy proposal to create a Pacific Eyes agreement — a dedicated intelligence-sharing framework that could transform regional security co...

What exactly is the nature of the deal struck between the US and Australian governments on critical minerals? How is it different to the agreements Washington later signed with Southeast Asian countries? And why are we worried about supplies of (not very) rare earths anyway? Explore the economics and politics with the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen and Robert Walker.  See omnystudio.com/liste...

The Director-General of Security  Mike Burgess delivered the 2025 Lowy Lecture before a packed Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday 4 November 2025. In his address and subsequent conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director  Dr Michael Fullilove , Mr Burgess spoke about the interplay between threats to Australian security, including those which emanate from abroad, and our country&rs...

During his visit to the UN in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese re-declared Australia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2029–30. But winning a seat on the world’s apex body is not assured, and the Council itself is facing a crisis of confidence. The Lowy Institute’s Ryan Neelam speaks with former Australian Ambassador to the UN Gary Quin...

Understanding Xi Jinping and what drives him has become a global cottage industry. According to US China scholar Joseph Torigian, one of the keys to understanding Xi Jinping is his father, Xi Zhongxun. How did Xi Senior influence Xi Junior? And what lessons can be drawn from the father for today’s policymaking? Torigian speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor about his new bi...

The long-awaited meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally happened. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove talks with Lydia Khalil and gives his take on the meeting’s outcomes and what it means for the US–Australia alliance.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this interview, the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen speaks with one of Asia’s most respected and trenchant observers of modern geopolitics, Bilahari Kausikan, as he discusses his new Lowy Institute Paper, “The Myth of the Asian Century”. "The Myth of the Asian Century" is published by Penguin. It is available in bookstores and as an e-book: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-...

Until his retirement from government this year, Nick Rasmussen has worked in counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism under successive Republican and Democratic administrations in the United States since the September 11 attacks in 2001, including under the first Trump administration.  In this conversation, the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil speaks with Nick about the significa...

Join Sam Roggeveen and Interpreter Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this month in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two of Washington, DC's most respected journalists, Susan Glasser and Peter Baker , join the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove , for a special conversation at the 2025 Lowy Institute Media Award Dinner . Susan Glasser, appointed to the Lowy Institute Board in January 2025, is a staff writer at The New Yorker and has served as the top editor of several Washington publication...

Washington’s foreign policy establishment is still reluctant to internalise the fact that the United States has entered a multipolar era, says Emma Ashford, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center. In this conversation, Ashford talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about her new book,  First Among Equals , and the urgent need for a more realistic American foreign policy. See o...

Southeast Asia is one of the most geopolitically diverse and contested regions of the world. But does China or the United States have more influence? And is it even accurate to describe the region’s geopolitics in these terms? Research Director Hervé Lemahieu talks with two of the authors of the newly launched Southeast Asia Influence Index , Susannah Patton and Rahman Yaacob. See omn...

We're in a global democratic recession. Not only is the number of democratic nations in decline, but so are democratic institutions and norms. What's going on? Sam Roggeveen talks with Lydia Khalil, co-author of the Lowy Institute's newest interactive, Understanding Democratic Erosion , about the complex dynamics and whether there is a way back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under new leadership, Indonesia continues to face a persistent and complex challenge: governance. As the country strives to maintain political stability and meet ambitious economic targets, governance reform has become central to meeting both domestic development goals and international commitments. Will political and economic developments in Indonesia enable it to escape the middle-income trap? H...

Bougainville has set 2027 as the deadline to declare independence from Papua New Guinea. But the economic and institutional foundations of sovereignty in the autonomous region remain fragile. In this episode of Pacific Change Makers , the Lowy Institute’s Director of the Pacific Islands Program Mihai Sora speaks with Oliver Nobetau, Director of the Aus–PNG Network Project, about the ro...

Join Lydia Khalil and  Interpreter  Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this month in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine,  The Interpreter . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trump–Putin summit in Alaska left the Russian leader smiling and the United States without concrete results, says Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for Military Studies Mick Ryan. In this conversation, Sam Roggeveen asks Mick Ryan about the battlefield situation in Ukraine and the lessons of the war for the Asia-Pacific. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2019 Christchurch terror attacks tragically highlighted how online capabilities can be exploited by bad actors. Since that time, there has been a concerted global effort by governments, tech companies and civil society to come together to mitigate these risks. But online extremism is a persistent challenge. The Institute's Lydia Khalil talks with Paul Ash, Chief Executive of the Christchurch C...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has travelled relentlessly since his inauguration in October 2024. Yet questions remain about the direction of Indonesian foreign policy under his leadership. How will Indonesia manage its relationships with China, the United States and Russia? And what role will it play within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? In this episode, the Institute'...

Two prominent Australian commentators from opposite sides of the defence debate meet to discuss Australia’s security, America’s role in Asia, the AUKUS partnership and more. Jennifer Parker from the National Security College, ANU, makes the case for an Australian defence policy with a maritime focus. The Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen argues for a continental strategy that is les...

The Institute’s Dr Melanie Pill speaks with Professor Thomas Hale, author of Long Problems: Climate change and the challenge of governing across time , about the difficulty of addressing issues, like climate change, that have such distant consequences. They discuss the barriers to addressing and governing long problems, how to build stronger institutions, and how international nego...

US Senator Chris Coons joined the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove at the Institute's Bligh Street headquarters for a special episode of Lowy Institute Conversations. They discussed US President Donald Trump's forthcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first 200 days of President Trump's foreign policy, AUKUS, defence spending, and Senator Coons' optimis...

Washington says the Pacific is a critical arena for strategic competition, yet recent US actions suggest otherwise. In this episode, the Institute’s Mihai Sora talks with Dr Charles Edel, Australia Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and Kathryn Paik, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director with the Australia Chair, about America’s Pacific drawdown, what’s at s...

In 2025 Malaysia hosts the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), putting it at the centre of regional geopolitics. Its prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has an ambitious agenda to steer the group through the challenges posed by rising geopolitical tension. How will Malaysia navigate a trade war and competition between the United States and China? And how will its identity as a diverse Muslim...