Lowy Institute

The public’s anxiety about artificial intelligence appears to be growing, with high-profile data security breaches and opposition towards data centres attracting negative attention. Yet a more hopeful view is also gaining ground: that the technology could help rebuild struggling democratic institutions. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Lydia Khalil speaks with Beth Noveck, au...

Official development finance to Southeast Asia has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, just as the region faces a run of overlapping economic shocks. Contrary to some expectations, China isn’t stepping into the gap left by retreating traditional donors, such as Japan and the United States. In this episode of Development Futures, the Lowy Institute's Lead Economist and Director of the Ind...

Despite being close neighbours, Australia and Papua New Guinea have only recently become formal allies through the Pukpuk Treaty. But what does this new alliance mean beyond government-to-government ties? In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Dominic De Moura McCarthy, President and Founder of the Pacific-Australia Youth Association, and Sharon Bala Woruba, Environment and Sustainabilit...

At the 2026 Lowy Institute Media Award dinner, former ambassador and intelligence chief Dennis Richardson AC traced five decades at the sharp end of government-media relations, from running the Commonwealth's first media monitoring unit in 1972 to advising ambassadors on when to dodge the cameras. He's blunt on AUKUS and the government's reluctance to sell it, sharper still on what he sees as medi...

The Lowy Institute was delighted to welcome Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to Bligh Street for a roundtable discussion, chaired by the Institute's Executive Director Michael Fullilove.   The Prime Minister delivered a brief speech, discussing the roles of Thailand, Australia, and middle-sized countries in addressing an increasingly uncertain world. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Two prominent Australian strategists from opposite sides of the defence debate discuss the AUKUS partnership. Jennifer Parker makes the case that AUKUS is vital for Australian security and that the nuclear-powered submarines will be delivered. Sam Roggeveen argues that AUKUS is unachievable and unnecessary. The debate features opening statements from each speaker, followed by a moderated discussio...

As the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting opens in Palau, the region faces a series of major challenges. These include a Chinese missile test that the Forum couldn’t agree to condemn, a contested region-wide security treaty, Taiwan's return to the Forum, an El Niño event, and a global fuel crisis. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Oliver Nobetau is joined by Dr...

The 2026 Allan Gyngell Lecture was delivered by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong. Senator Wong paid tribute to Allan Gyngell’s influence on her thinking, reflected on multiculturalism as a source of national strength, and framed Australia’s strategic choices in an increasingly uncertain world.  Following her address, the Foreign Minister joined the Lowy...

As great powers race for the critical minerals scattered on the ocean floor, the Pacific is splitting into two camps — those betting on deep-sea mining as an economic lifeline, and those warning the environmental risks are too great. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Dr Connor Graham speaks with Dr Philippa Louey, Senior Research Associate at the Lancaster Environment Centre,...

Southeast Asia has become the connector economy of the global tech race — building the chips, batteries, and clean energy components for which both Washington and Beijing now compete. But as US–China tensions harden into economic security policy, the region’s most valuable supply chains are being squeezed from both sides. In this episode of Development Futures, Research Fellow Ro...

The Australia–India relationship has taken on growing significance in recent years, a point echoed by policy leaders as they welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his recent visit. Hear from leading experts as they analyse the recent visit by PM Modi and explore how the two countries can deepen their collaboration and work together in a range of strategic areas. The panellists discuss the...

China blocked trade, froze out ministers, and left lobsters rotting on the tarmac, and still couldn't force Australia to budge. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, former Australian ambassador to Beijing Graham Fletcher joins Research Director Mihai Sora to discuss what "stabilisation" really means for the Australia–China relationship — from rare earths and the Port of Dar...

The way authoritarian and illiberal states interact has changed. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have gone from defending themselves against perceived liberal pressure to actively building the institutions of an alternative order. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Nick Bisley, the author of a new Lowy Institute paper analysing this cooperation, speaks with the Institute's Sam Ro...

India matters to Australia more than ever — as a strategic partner, a major trading economy, and a fellow member of the Quad — at a moment when Indo-Pacific security is deeply contested. Hear from leading experts as they examine the India–Australia relationship and how the two countries can deepen their collaboration to help shape a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Building on...

Australia calls itself the Pacific's partner of choice. But is the relationship built on mutual understanding, or is it driven by Canberra’s anxiety about China?  Professor Joanne Wallis, the author of a new book with Jack Corbett,  Neighbours , joins the Lowy Institute’s Serena Sasingian to discuss Australia's uneasy colonial history in the region, the gap between its "Pacif...

Power politics is intensifying. Economies are sputtering. Living standards are falling. Societal change is dizzying. When Australians look at the world today, they don’t like what they see.  Now in its 22nd year, the 2026 Lowy Institute Poll captures how Australians feel about a world order that is rapidly slipping away. With economic pessimism on the rise and feelings of safety deterio...

What can Southeast Asia learn from the conflict in the Persian Gulf and should we be worried about the next maritime flashpoint closer to home? At a Lowy Institute event at the National Press Club, Sam Roggeveen was joined by three leading Southeast Asia experts to explore Asia's maritime hotspots. They discussed the economic shockwaves from the Strait of Hormuz conflict, the very different dynami...

Global progress on gender equality is stalling, and in some places going backwards. The World Economic Forum estimates that, at current rates, Asia and the Pacific won't reach gender parity for 179 years. In this episode, host Roland Rajah is joined by Grace Stanhope (Lowy Institute) and Professor Katrina Lee-Koo (University of Queensland) to analyse why gender equality is under siege. They discus...

It's been the busiest fortnight in Australia–Pacific diplomacy in recent memory. In the space of ten days, Australia signed the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu, the Vuvale Union and a surprise Ocean of Peace Alliance with Fiji, and saw the Pukpuk Treaty with Papua New Guinea come into effect — all while marking Solomon Islands Independence Day and flagging a comprehensive treaty wi...

As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Australia for the third time, new Lowy Institute polling reveals a curious paradox: Australians now trust India more than the United States or China, yet many Australians can't name its leader. The Lowy Institute’s Dr Ram Sethi Fellow, Dhruva Jaishankar, joins India Chair Shruti Pandalai to analyse what's driving the relationship's rapid g...

Australians increasingly see China as an economic partner rather than a security threat — while still bracing for it as a long-term military risk. That's one of the striking findings from the 22nd Lowy Institute Poll, launched in Sydney. At the launch, Poll author Charlie Lyons-Jones joined Lowy Institute India Chair Shruti Pandalai and The Interpreter's Managing Editor Dan Flitton, moderate...

Southeast Asia has always sat at the intersection of great power competition, but the pressures bearing down on the region today are testing its institutions, alliances and sense of common purpose like never before. Since the United States went to war with Iran and blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, soaring fuel and fertiliser costs have pushed several Southeast Asian nations into a state of emergenc...

Southeast Asia’s economic and geostrategic significance is on the rise, but China’s expanding dominance and a more transactional United States are challenging the region’s future. As Washington and Beijing force unwanted choices on Southeast Asia, regional states are struggling to defend the open and interconnected order that undergirds their security and prosperity. Hear from in...

Great power competition, maritime expansionism, and disruptions to global supply chains are heightening geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific. Many observers question whether the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is capable of responding to a crisis or conflict in the region. The Lowy Institute hosts three leading experts to discuss traditional and non-traditional security challen...

The New START Treaty has expired, China is quadrupling its nuclear arsenal, and the Trump administration has yet to prioritise arms control. Rose Gottemoeller, a former chief US negotiator of New START and ex-Deputy Secretary General of NATO, speaks with the Lowy Institute’s Sam Roggeveen about the growing risks of a three-way nuclear stand-off, what the wars in Ukraine and Iran reveal about...