Lowy Institute Conversations

Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant leads the world’s first government regulatory agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online. While her appointment is domestic, the internet is global. In this episode of Conversations , the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil talks with Inman Grant about what she learned from her previous experience working in the tech industry, how to regulate...

Defence expert Ross Babbage talks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about his new research paper,  Deterrence and Alliance Power: Why the AUKUS Submarines Matter and how they can be Delivered . They discuss not just the viability of the project – can US and UK shipyards deliver? – but its justifications. Why does Australia need these submarines? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

In the final episode of our series on the South China Sea, host Susannah Patton and Lowy Institute colleague Richard McGregor debate the implications of the recent tensions at Second Thomas Shoal for Beijing’s strategy, the credibility of US alliances, and the considerations of other regional countries such as Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part three of our South China Sea series, Dr Michael Mazarr speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Susannah Patton about the US’ strategy in the South China Sea. The United States has few easy options for countering China’s coercion of its ally the Philippines. Dr Mazarr of the RAND Corporation argues that the United States needs to plan for a scenario in which China gains control over the disputed S...

In this special episode of Conversations, the Lowy Institute’s Dr Michael Fullilove and Hervé Lemahieu discuss US President Joe Biden’s momentous decision overnight to withdraw from his bid for a second term. In the past three weeks, US politics has been reshaped before our eyes. A resurgent former president Donald Trump, emerging from an attempt on his life, appears stronger than ever. Meanwhile,...

In part two of our South China Sea series, Dr Oriana Skylar Mastro speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Susannah Patton about China’s objectives in the region. Beijing is pursuing an aggressive strategy to push out the United States and prevent Southeast Asian claimant states, especially the Philippines, from exercising their sovereign rights. Dr Mastro, Center Fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for I...

The Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen spoke with Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, during his recent visit to Australia. Prior to his ministerial career, Jonson worked in Sweden’s Defence Research Agency, and his depth of knowledge about not just European security but also Asia comes through in this interview. Roggeveen asks Jonson why Swedes should care about Asia, whether Europe is doing enoug...

Tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have reached their highest level in more than a decade. The risk of escalation, even conflict, between the two countries could test the credibility of the Philippines’ alliance with the United States. In the first of a series focused on the South China Sea tensions,  Susannah Patton , Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lo...

Since the Albanese government was elected, Australia has focused on stabilising relations with China. But there are limits to Australia’s ability to successfully pursue stabilisation if there remains a spectre of confrontation between its largest trading partner and its key security guarantor, the United States.  Do either the US or China genuinely want to stabilise bi-lateral ties? And if they do...

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 from Brexit? How united is Europe in the face of populism at home and with new challenges on its doorstep, including the war in Ukraine? And are China and Russia two faces of the same threat? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

In this episode, the Lowy Institute’s Research Director Hervé Lemahieu talks with Ryan Neelam, the Institute’s Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program about the findings of the recently launched 2024 Global Diplomacy Index . What do diplomatic networks tell us about superpower rivalry, geopolitical competition, and a more multipolar world order? How do nations use diplomacy to bu...

In this episode, the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen talks with his colleague, Research Fellow on Transnational Challenges Lydia Khalil, about her new research paper,  Overcoming digital threats to democracy . The internet and social media are now our digital public square, yet these spaces are not governed that way. Lydia proposes that tech giants look to “deliberative democracy” practices — where...

In this special episode of Lowy Institute Conversations , Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu  talks with three experts about the outcome of Indonesia's presidential election on 14 February 2024. Quick counts point to a landslide victory for Prabowo Subianto. What drove this result? Who is the 72-year-old Prabowo? And what kind of Indonesia can we expect under his presidency? Listen to the discuss...

During a brief visit to Sydney, Major General (Ret'd) Tamir Hayman, Managing Director of the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, offered the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen his unique insights on where momentum now lies in the Ukraine war, whether Iran will pursue a nuclear weapon or stop just short of building one, and the role of secret intelligence in an age of ‘information super-...

In May 2023, Thailand held a general election. Now nearly three months after the vote, there's no new prime minister, no new government and the largest party in parliament, Move Forward, won't lead the country. Dr Gregory Raymond at the Australian National University sits down with Lowy Institute Research Director Herve Lemahieu to discuss the murky state of affairs in Thai politics and what could...

In this episode of Conversations, Director of the Southeast Asia Program Susannah Patton talks with Thomas Parks, author of the recently published book, Southeast Asia’s Multipolar Future: Averting a New Cold War about how Southeast Asian countries are navigating growing US-China rivalry and the roles of the region’s diverse external partners, including Japan, Australia and India. Parks is optimis...

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Nonresident Fellow Dr Bobo Lo speaks with International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen about the attempted coup by elements of the Wagner paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. They discuss the mutiny, the likely impact on Russia’s leadership, and what effect it will have on the future direction of Russia’s war in Ukraine.  Dr Bobo Lo...

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Project Director and Research Fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu talks with Dr Max Grömping and Professor Jessica Teets to explore how lobbying by civil society organisations works in an authoritarian context. Using case studies from China, Russia, Belarus, Cambodia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Turkey and Zimbabwe, Lobbying the Autocrat explores how citizen advocacy...

In this episode of Conversations, Susannah Patton, Director of the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Program, talks with Dr Nguyen Hung Son, Vice President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. They discuss Vietnam’s foreign policy outlook, relations with external partners, including Australia, and how Vietnam sees key regional issues such as the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the conflict in Myanmar....

The World Bank recently released its “Evolution Roadmap”, aimed at responding more efficiently to growing poverty reduction needs and better addressing climate change challenges. While the roadmap provides a good starting point — outlining the evolution of the bank's mission, operations and financing model — it falls short in providing concrete and detailed strategies to achieve an ambitious refor...

On Monday 24 April 2023, Australia’s government published the public version of its Defence Strategic Review, a report it commissioned on coming to office to set the agenda for reforms to the posture and structure of the Australian Defence Force. Positioned alongside the government’s commitment to the AUKUS security agreement, the Review and the government’s response to it have signalled major cha...

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations , Hervé Lemahieu discusses the continuing threat of nuclear weapons, global efforts at arms control and Australia's interactions with the global non-proliferation regime around its proposed acquisition of nuclear submarine technology under the AUKUS agreement. He speaks with Australia's Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-proliferation Ian Biggs...

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations , Susannah Patton talks to Amrita Malhi , senior development policy adviser and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Flinders History and the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, about the political outlook for Malaysia following the November general election. The election saw victory for Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-racial coalition, wh...

In this episode of Conversations, Hervé Lemahieu talks with Xueyin Zha and Jennifer Hsu about the Chinese messaging app and the role in it plays in the democratic participation of Chinese-Australians. They discuss the inherent risks and drawbacks of WeChat, such as censorship, but also explore how it became a medium of outreach and civic engagement for Chinese-Australians during the 2021 New South...

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Nixi Cura to explore and assess some of China’s major soft power initiatives, including its successes and failures over the last five years. They discuss the role of Chinese visual culture, notably contemporary Chinese art as a medium of projecting China’s soft power. Nixi Cura read East Asian Studies at Yale...