Lowy Institute

On 5th July at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Richard Martin, of International Market Assessment Asia (IMA), focused on the major restructuring of manufacturing currently under way in China and the rest of Asia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2006, at the height of the Israel-Lebanon war, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice famously remarked that the world was witnessing the 'birth pangs of a new Middle East'. In this Wednesday Lowy Lunch Club, Anthony Bubalo, director of the West Asia program, critically examined Secretary of State Rice's prediction by exploring what has changed and what is changing in the world's most ec...

After Copenhagen, attention is moving away from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and towards a new climate multilateralism, one that more actively engages other global forums such as the G20, WTO and the Major Economies Forum alongside the UNFCCC. This requires a deft balancing of newly aligned geopolitical forces and continued investment in building fragile trust...

The Lowy Institute for International Policy was pleased to host as a part of its Distinguished Speakers Series the renowned French scholar of the Islamic and Arab worlds, Professor Gilles Kepel. Professor Kepel spoke on the future of political Islam, examining the trajectory of both al-Qaeda’s brand of violent extremism as well as the challenges faced by mainstream Islamist movements seeking democ...

Economic globalisation and universal human rights both have the ability to improve and enrich individuals and communities. However, their respective institutions, methods, practices and goals differ, with both positive and negative effects. At the Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 7th April, Professor David Kinley discussed how human rights intersect with the trade, aid and commercial dimensions of global e...

Diplomacy should matter – particularly for anyone who prefers talking over fighting and dialogue over diktat. At the Wednesday Lunch on 24 March, Daryl Copeland argued that diplomacy has been sidelined by globalisation and is facing a crisis of relevance and effectiveness. Mr Copeland is an analyst, writer and educator on international policy, global issues, diplomacy and public management. His bo...

Difficult and dangerous work, covering wars with TV cameras has become a core component of modern conflict - so much so that a 'military-media' nexus has arisen alongside what US President Eisenhower famously termed the 'military-industrial complex'. From Vietnam to Iraq and beyond, televised coverage of battle has impacted strongly on public support for wars and on strategic policy. It has also m...

On 30 April at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Professor Hugh White examined why Australia needs a new defence white paper, outlined the proper aims of such a project and identified the pitfalls that need to be avoided. He drew upon his experience in managing the development and drafting of the 2000 white paper to argue against any process which does not align strategic objectives, military capabilit...

On Wednesday 18 February 2009, as part of the Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute hosted the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, who outlined the Australian Government's forward agenda on international whale conservation. With the nations of the International Whaling Commission meeting in March and June of 2009 to discuss the futu...

On Wednesday 18 February 2009, as part of the Institute's Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute hosted the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, who outlined the Australian Government's forward agenda on international whale conservation. With the nations of the International Whaling Commission meeting in March and June of 2009 to discuss the futu...

On 6 October, Pakistan, a nuclear power of over 160 million people riven by political and religious passions, goes to polls. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 3 October, Whit Mason provided a preview of the elections and the challenges faced by incumbent President Pervez Musharraf, examining what is at stake in this strategically critical country. Whit Mason is a writer and consultant on internati...

Africa is usually in the news for all the wrong reasons: civil conflict, endemic disease, even terrorism. Yet, in viewing Africa as no more than a blighted continent, are we missing some of the important and more positive developments that are taking place? To help us understand the outlook for Africa, the Lowy Institute hosted an address by Philip Green OAM, Australian High Commissioner to South...

On 16 May at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Sir Richard Feachem reflected on his term at the Global Fund and whether the Global Fund PPP model might be more broadly applied across the spectrum of development assistance finance and program delivery. The Global Fund was established in 2002 as a radical departure from previous multilateral development assistance agencies. It is a Public Private Partner...

Western militaries in the early 21st century find themselves busy with land-based stabilisation and counter-insurgency missions. Yet at the same time, many countries are embarking on major new investments in naval capabilities. Australia, for instance, recently announced its selection of three air warfare destroyers and two large 'strategic projection' transport ships. This week at the Wednesday L...

On 5 December at a Tuesday Lunch at Lowy, Dr Ron Pundak, Executive Director of the Peres Center for Peace, spoke on the topic, 'The role of an NGO in the Middle East'. The Peres Center was founded in 1996 by Nobel laureate Shimon Peres with the aim of building peace by promoting socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people relations in the Middle East. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

On 23 October, as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute for International Policy hosted a panel discussion with three of America's leading experts on terrorism, Marc Sageman, Steve Coll and Daniel Benjamin. They discussed future trends in global terrorism, providing unique insights into how this international threat is likely to evolve over coming years. See omnystudio.com/l...

At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 9 August, Dr Michael Fulilove launched his new Policy Brief, entitled Capital punishment and Australian foreign policy. In the wake of Van Nguyen's execution and with at least four Australians currently at risk of execution, the death penalty is a controversial topic in this country. In his Policy Brief, Michael examines how the Australian Government's abolitionis...

The Fukushima crisis has provoked a furious debate about the future of nuclear energy. Polling in Australia shows a return to a solid majority opposing nuclear power for Australia as part of our future energy mix. The Australian political leadership has declared the subject out of bounds. At a special Wednesday Lowy Lunch on 20 April, three expert industry panellists discussed the future of nuclea...

On 21 June 2010, the Lowy Institute held a lecture by the President of the Federation of American Scientists, Dr Charles Ferguson, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series. Dr Ferguson examined the links between civil nuclear energy and nuclear weapons proliferation. In light of the growing number of states which have signed peaceful nuclear energy cooperation deals, the lecture focused on the...

Following the sudden disappearance in the 1960s and 1970s of the familiar coordinates of the British world, Australians were cast into the realm of the unknown. The task of remodelling the national image touched every aspect of Australian life where identifiably British ideas, habits and symbols had grown obsolete. At the Wednesday Lunch on 26 May, James Curran examined the task of finding a stabl...

On 19 May, the Lowy Institute was delighted to welcome back Lord May of Oxford, a member of the Institute’s International Advisory Council, to speak on climate change as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series. Lord May argued that although it is beyond dispute that the burning of fossil fuels is thickening Earth’s greenhouse gas blanket (to levels not seen for tens of millions of years), there r...

The global financial crisis is having a significant impact on international migration: for the first time in 25 years there has been a reduction in labour migration flows around the world; growing numbers of migrant workers are losing their jobs and returning home; the global value of remittances will reduce significantly in 2009; employment, living and working conditions are deteriorating for man...

On 21 February 2008, as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute hosted a speech by Ira C. Magaziner, the Chairman of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and the Clinton Climate Initiative on the issue of 'Climate change: Converting words into action'. In his presentation Mr Magaziner focused on the importance of implementation of large-scale measures to reduce greenhous...

The US presidential campaign is heating up, and the foreign policy credentials and plans of the various candidates are near the centre of the debate. On 15 January 2008, as part of our Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institute hosted a speech by a leading US foreign policymaker and scholar, the Honourable Mitchell B. Reiss. Dr Reiss talked about the campaign's implications for American fore...

On 19 September at the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy, Waleed Aly, in a presentation entitled 'Liquid terror: the dynamics of home-grown radicalisation', examined the contentious issue of radicalisation in Western Muslim communities. Waleed Aly was a board member of the Islamic Council of Victoria for over four years and comments frequently for the media on a range of issues relating to Islam and Western...