Lowy Institute

As the George W Bush Presidency draws to a close, attention is increasingly focused on the likely policies of his successor, particularly in the Middle East. The Lowy Institute was pleased to present at the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 30 July 2008 a speaker eminently qualified to address this critical topic, Ambassador Martin S. Indyk. Ambassador Indyk is a Director on the Board of the Lowy Institute...

On 26 September at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Lucinda Holdforth, a former Australian diplomat and foreign policy adviser and the author of the recently published 'Why manners matter: the case for civilised behaviour in a barbarous world' gave a presentation on the link between good manners and international politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday 22 August at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Amos Brandeis, an Ambassador for the International River Foundation, spoke about the links between the environment and conflict. Tim Flannery introduced Mr Brandeis. Mr Brandeis is the manager of the Alexander River Restoration Project, a unique partnership between Israel and Palestine. In 1995 Israelis and Palestinians came together to restor...

On 16 August at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Mr Les Murray from the SBS network discussed the broader social and cultural elements of the World Cup, and how our recent success has helped change perceptions of Australia around the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 19 July at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Whit Mason discussed how Australia can apply the lessons of the international community's experience in Kosovo to state-building in its own immediate region. Whit's presentation, 'Balkan lessons for Australia’s arc of instability: the Joe Namath school of state-building' can be heard here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday 17 May at the Lowy Institute, an audience heard five important voices in Australian cultural life examine the role of music in promoting understanding between nations and communities. Joining Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Sydney Symphony, Mr Vladimir Ashkenazy (pictured), in this unique public conversation were Lindy Hume, David Bridie, Andrew Ford and Geraldine Doogue AO. Se...

On 8 November at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Professor of Politics at Thammasat University in Thailand, and a member of the National Reconciliation Commission established in 2005 as a part of efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the conflict in southern Thailand, discussed public reactions to the Commission’s recent report on violence in southern Thailand and...

At at reception at the Westin Hotel on Thursday 28 January 2010, Dr Michael Wesley, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, spoke of what we should expect in the decade ahead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 19 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Dr Rodd McGibbon explained the background to the current difficult bilateral tensions between Australia and Indonesia over Papua. Dr Rodd McGibbon will be the author of a Lowy Institute Paper on Papua scheduled for publication later this year and has recently returned to Australia after working for 6 years in Indonesia for the United Nations, USAID and t...

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 17 May 2006, the Institute launched the new Lowy Institute Paper, The Paramount Power: China and the Countries of Southeast Asia, by Dr Milton Osborne. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a speech to the Lowy Institute on 27 August, the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard MP, outlined his objectives for the Sydney meeting of APEC, the most significant international gathering ever held in Australia. Mr Howard spoke about APEC activities in the fields of trade, regional security challenges and climate change, and about his expectations for some of the significant bilat...

On 5 March 2009, the Lowy Institute hosted a roundtable discussion in the run-up to the G-20 meeting of world leaders to be held in London on 2 April this year. The roundtable was supported by the British High Commission in Canberra and was part of the British Government's efforts to reach out to the wider community for ideas before this critical summit meeting. The forum was addressed by the Hon....

On Monday 20 April 2009, the Lowy Institute was pleased to host Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, who addressed the Institute on the subject of Australia's contribution to a global agreement on climate change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Raja Mohan, Strategic Affairs Editor of the Indian Express, and one of India's most influential commentators on India's foreign and strategic policy, delivered the inaugural Australia-India Strategic Lecture on the subject of India and East Asia in Melbourne on 21 February. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute for International Policy was proud to host Dr Ezzedine Choukri-Fishere, Counselor for Middle East Peace Process and Regional Security in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Dr Choukri-Fishere discussed Hamas' military takeover of the Gaza Strip and examined its implications for a two-state solution to the Israel...

On 29 August at the Lowy Institute, Thales Chairman and CEO, Denis Ranque, in his only public speech while visiting Australia, discussed the implications for national sovereignty arising from the procurement of defence material and services from foreign-based corporations. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 8 November, the Lowy Institute for International Policy co-hosted the Fiji and Vanuatu Update 2010 with the Crawford School of Economics and Governance, Australian National University. As part of the 2010 Update a distinguished panel was assembled to discuss these very challenges and to discuss Fiji’s international relations, politics and governance, in relation to Australia. See omnystudio.com...

The 2010 Lowy Institute Poll, 'Australia and the world: public opinion and foreign policy', was launched on 31 May by Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Wesley, followed by an interactive discussion with panelists Stephen Loosley, Miranda Devine and Arthur Sinodinos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 13 September as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of the ADB's Board of Directors, presented a lecture to the Lowy Institute. Headquartered in Manila, the ADB is the regional multilateral financial institution tasked with reducing poverty in the Asia Pacific region. The title of Mr Kuroda's lecture...

This week’s regular Lowy Lunch, which took place on Tuesday 24 April, was presented by Lieutenant Colonel Mark O'Neill, the Army Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. On ANZAC Day Australians reflect upon the sacrifices made by the men and women in the service of our nation during war. The ANZAC legend was created during the First World War and subsequently reinforced during the S...

On 23 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James A. Kelly, discussed how American policy towards Asia has changed on recent years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 13th February, Dr Malcolm Cook discussed the results of recent elections in South Korea and Taiwan. Malcolm analysed whether South Korean and Taiwan voters are trying to return to the past and what this might mean for Northeast Asia's two most dangerous flashpoints, the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan strait, and Australia's vital interest in Northeast Asian stabi...

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 28 November, Professor Michael Wesley, in a presentation entitled 'Planning Australia's future in Asia', examined the major challenges and great opportunities that make it essential that Australia takes seriously the task of foreign policy planning in its regional diplomacy. Professor Michael Wesley is the Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith Univer...

On 29 May, in a lecture in our Distinguished Speaker Series, Dr Michael Green from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington discussed America's position in Asia and the challenges for the next Administration. The presentation first looked at what the Bush administration's Asia policy is and what the approaching debates are in Washington, and beyond, over this policy, in the...

The third Lowy Lecture on 'Australia in the World' was given in Sydney on 19 November by Lord May of Oxford. It deals with one of the most urgent problems we face - the consequence for the international system of the range of environmental challenges facing the planet. Informed by his deep scientific and public policy experience, Lord May's lecture, entitled 'Relations among Nations on a Finite Pl...