The Director's Chair

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the former US Deputy National Security Adviser, Matthew Pottinger. Matt started out as a journalist based in China, served in the US Marine Corps, and joined the Trump administration first as the Asia senior director at the National Security Council and later as Deputy National Security Advisor. Michael and Matt speak about Pre...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Brookings Institution scholar and Merkel-watcher Dr Constanze Stelzenmüller. Constanze holds the Fritz Stern Chair at Brookings. Michael and Constanze talk about the chancellorship of Angela Merkel, her legacy, and look to the future of German politics. Constanze reflects on the state of transatlantic relations, Germany’s r...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Admiral Harry Harris, the former US commander and diplomat. Harry served as the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and as President Trump’s Ambassador to South Korea. Harry discusses his military career, which took in postings from Guantanamo Bay to INDOPACOM headquarters in Honolulu, w...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Dr Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a leading Indian think tank. Michael and Samir talk about India’s devastating second wave of COVID, the time it will take for India to recover from the crisis, and what the pandemic means for US-China relations. Samir speaks about his own experiences with the...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the distinguished policymaker and policy entrepreneur Michèle Flournoy. Michèle is a former senior Pentagon official, managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and chair of the Center for a New American Security. Michèle is a leading expert on US defence and strategic policy. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Australian-American diplomat, Middle East scholar, and author Dr Martin Indyk. Martin worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations as Assistant Secretary of State, US Ambassador to Israel and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Affairs and a long-serving Board...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with award-winning journalist, author, and editor Anna Fifield. Anna, the editor of the Wellington newspaper The Dominion Post, has previously reported for the Financial Times and The Washington Post from London, Washington, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. Anna is the author of a celebrated biography of Kim Jong-un titled The Great Succes...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with international business leader Marcus Wallenberg. Marcus is a fifth-generation member of the Wallenberg Family, a Swedish political and business dynasty that has counted foreign ministers, ambassadors, and prominent business figures among its numbers. Marcus is the chairman of both Saab and the SEB Group. He sits on the board of...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson. Over the course of her career, Frances has represented Australia’s interests in Europe and Asia and advised foreign ministers and prime ministers. Michael and Frances discuss relations with China, recent events in Myanmar, and how DFAT is helping Aus...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with General David Petraeus who led the 2007 surge in Iraq, headed up the US Central Command, commanded US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and served as director of the CIA. Michael and David discuss America’s involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, reflect on President Biden’s approach to the use of force, and the Capitol rio...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Evan Osnos, the award-winning journalist, author and staff writer for The New Yorker. In 2014 he published a book on China, Age of Ambition, which won the National Book Award. Evan recently released an insightful and highly readable biography of the President-elect, Joe Biden: American Dreamer. Michael and Evan discuss Joe Bide...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with one of the leading US Democratic voices on foreign policy, Kurt Campbell. From 2009 to 2013, Kurt served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under Secretary Clinton in the Obama administration, where he is widely credited as a key architect of the “pivot to Asia.” He is CEO of The Asia Group,...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Professor Robert Dallek, the distinguished presidential historian. Professor Dallek is a prize-winning author who has written books about Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson and many other American presidents. Previously he has taught at Columbia, UCLA, Oxford and the University of Texas. Professor Dallek di...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with one of the world’s leading Trumpologists, Dr Thomas Wright. Tom is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. His recent Lowy Institute Analysis, The Point of No Return: The 2020 Election and the Crisis of American Foreign Policy, examines implications of the 20...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Stephen Hadley, the former national security adviser to President George W. Bush. Throughout his long career, Steve Hadley worked for four American presidents – Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. He is Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace, a member of the Board of Director...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Australia’s Governor-General, His Excellency David Hurley. Mr Hurley joined the Australian Army in January 1972, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. His military service culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014. After serving as CD...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Professor at Harvard University, Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, and one of the leading American diplomats of his generation. Nick served in the US government for nearly three decades, holding senior positions under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was a...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Jake Sullivan, the senior policy adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Jake Sullivan has held positions of trust for many of America’s leaders in the past two decades, as senior policy adviser to the last two Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden; deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clin...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo. Mike Pezzullo is a lifelong official, described recently as ‘one of Australia’s most powerful public servants’. He has been a trusted adviser to both Labor and Coalition governments, the author of a Defence White Paper, and the prime mover behind a major restructur...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Brookings Institution scholar, and former Russia adviser to President Donald Trump, Dr Fiona Hill. Fiona is one of the world’s leading Russia experts. She has worked in the US government under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and then served for two years in the Trump Administration. At the end of 2019, Fiona became...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with diplomat, foreign policy intellectual and now Chancellor of the University of Queensland, Peter Varghese. Peter had a distinguished career in the Australian public service over nearly four decades, representing our country abroad, running the foreign ministry and our key intelligence assessments agency and advising a prime mini...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with former diplomat, traveller, author and politician, Rory Stewart, a man whose life so far has been both conventional and highly unconventional. Born in Hong Kong, Rory spent his childhood in Malaysia and Scotland, and passed through a number of establishment institutions including Eton, Balliol, the Black Watch, the Foreign Offi...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with legendary Australian official Dennis Richardson about his storied career in the public service, prime ministers he has known, and the foreign policy challenges facing Australia – including how to manage our relationships with the United States and China. Over the course of his 48-year career, Dennis Richardson AO served in many...

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with award-winning author Anna Funder. Anna is widely known for her two bestselling books on German history, Stasiland and All that I Am. Michael and Anna discuss the Stasi and East Germany, the differences between the United States and Australia, life in a pandemic – and whether writers are a bit like spies. See omnystudio.com/list...