Lowy Institute Conversations

Earlier this year, reports emerged of Russia seeking to base military aircraft at Indonesia’s Manuhua Airforce Base. While the request was rejected by Indonesia, it raises a broader question: what are Russia’s interests in Southeast Asia and how should Australia respond to its attempts to seek access to military facilities in the region? In this podcast,  Lowy Institute Research F...

Join Sam Roggeveen and Managing Editor Daniel Flitton for a conversation about what we covered this week in Australia’s best foreign affairs magazine, The Interpreter . Further reading: Sadly, Russia’s mercenary verdict means Oscar Jenkins won’t be coming home anytime soon by Donald Rothwell Why Oscar Jenkins’ trial in the Luhansk People’s Republic is a sham by Shanno...

In this episode, we bring you highlights of a recent Lowy Institute event on the future of warfare. Christian Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Anduril Industries, and Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program discuss the key trends in modern warfare revealed through the world’s ongoing armed conflicts. They share their thoughts on how...

Anthony Albanese has been returned as Australia’s prime minister in a landslide. In this episode, Program Directors Mihai Sora and Susannah Patton speak with host Lydia Khalil about what that means for the region. They discuss how Albanese’s re-election is being received in the Pacific and Southeast Asia and examine the continuities, opportunities and challenges for Australia’s f...

In this episode, host Lydia Khalil speaks with former US Ambassador and Director-General of ASIO Dennis Richardson and  Interpreter  Managing Editor Daniel Flitton , about the Five Eyes — the powerful and strategically important intelligence sharing alliance. Its member countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have sustained and protected...

With US President Donald Trump unleashing a blitz of policy changes in his first few months in office and an Australian federal election just ahead, the Lowy Institute has released selected results from the 2025 Lowy Institute Poll . The findings provide a snapshot of how Trump is changing Australian attitudes towards the United States, and on Australians’ confidence in their political leade...

Two weeks ago, Myanmar was struck by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated much of the central heartland of the country. Already ravaged by civil war, the destruction and humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake have brought the country to the brink. The Lowy Institute’s Hervé Lemahieu talks with Vicky Bowman CMG, the Director of the Myanmar...

Since his election, foreign policy coverage has been dominated by US President Donald Trump. But there is a lot more going on in the world than Trump 2.0. Many important global developments are not getting the attention they deserve. The Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil and Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of The Interpreter, highlight the stories you might have missed.   See omnystudi...

Defence analyst Marcus Hellyer talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about the unprecedented appearance of Chinese warships off Australia’s east coast. What message was Beijing sending? How well did Australia’s defence force perform in response? And what are Australia‘s future options with the United States in retrenchment?   See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

After attending this month's Munich Security Conference, the Institute's Hervé Lemahieu speaks with Lydia Khalil about the Trump administration’s diplomatic cavalry charge on Europe, and lessons for Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retired Australian Army General Mick Ryan is one of the most influential and prolific analysts of the Ukraine war. This conversation with Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program, was intended as a reflection on the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, but instead becomes a much broader and deeper conversation about the sensational diplomatic events of the last f...

Dr Benjamin Herscovitch at ANU and the Lowy Institute’s Hervé Lemahieu discuss the growing global support for China’s efforts to bring Taiwan under its control, potentially via the use of force. As diplomatic stances on Taiwan become more contested and consequential, the Lowy Institute has published a world-first dataset detailing every UN member state’s position on the go...

First Nations peoples were Australia’s original diplomats and traders. In recent years, the Australian government has sought to embed First Nations perspectives, experiences and interests into Australia’s foreign policy. Yet after the loss in the referendum to create a Voice to Parliament, there are questions about how to further these efforts. In this episode of Conversations, Lowy In...

As part of the Lowy Institute Re-Cast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2024. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. Hostage-taking and arbitrary detention by both state and non-state actors are on the rise. The Lowy Institute’s Sean Turnell, himself wrongfully imprisoned for two ye...

As part of the Lowy Institute Re-Cast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2024. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. In this episode, Michel Barnier, Europe’s former point man on Brexit negotiations, speaks with Hervé Lemahieu. Four years on, what lessons should the West draw...

As part of the Lowy Institute Re-Cast series, we are republishing the best podcasts of 2024. In case you missed them the first time around or if you want revisit these engaging conversations, the Re-Cast series has you covered. Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant leads the world’s first government regulatory agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online. While her appoi...

Plans for Donald Trump's second-term inauguration are well underway, with his transition team straight to work announcing appointments. Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove has recently returned from the United States where he met with a number of outgoing and incoming officials. For the final episode of 2024, he spoke with Lowy Institute Fellow Lydia Khalil about the new Trump a...

Lowy Institute's Research Fellow Dr Rahman Yaacob, recently traveled to Cambodia to investigate the controversial Ream Naval Base. In this podcast, Rahman shared his insights with Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program. They discuss how the Ream Naval Base plays into Cambodias strategic positioning and the broader context of US-China geopolitical competition.   Read and down...

Less than a week after Donald Trump’s historic election victory, world experts gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29, the UN’s annual summit on climate change. The Hon Chris Bowen MP, Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, holds a central role at this year’s summit, as co-chair of negotiations on a new global climate finance goal. He speaks to the Lowy Institute’s Ryan Neelam about...

In this episode of Conversations, the Lowy Institute's Dr Michael Fullilove and Hervé Lemahieu discuss Donald Trump's remarkable political comeback. What will a second Trump presidency mean for America's allies, adversaries, and the fence-sitters? And how should Australia deal with Mr Trump in the Oval Office? You can also read our special feature on Trump 2.0 , as well as Dr Fullilove’s essay for...

Hostage-taking and arbitrary detention by both state and non-state actors are on the rise. The Lowy Institute’s Sean Turnell, himself wrongfully imprisoned for two years in Myanmar, and Lydia Khalil discuss hostage diplomacy, its personal and global impacts and what can be done about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With less than a month to go before one of the most consequential presidential elections in US history, Lowy Institute experts Lydia Khalil, Hervé Lemahieu and Sam Roggeveen sit down to discuss what a potential Trump or Harris administration would mean for the United States and its relationships with allies and adversaries. Drawing on two recently published Lowy Institute interactive features in w...

Each year, the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index (API) provides the authoritative guide to the distribution of power in Asia. In the first of a three part series on the API, index authors Susannah Patton, Jack Sato and Hervé Lemahieu discuss the findings of the latest edition, including the outlook for US-China competition, the relative influence of India and Japan, and how other regional countrie...

Dmitri Alperovitch is the author of  World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century . In this Lowy Institute Conversation, he talks with Sam Roggeveen about China’s ambitions, why Taiwan is so important, the military balance in Asia, and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dmitri Alperovitch is the author of  World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century . In this Lowy Institute Conversation, he talks with Sam Roggeveen about China’s ambitions, why Taiwan is so important, the military balance in Asia, and much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.