The Lowy Institute

Operation Ironside, led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) between 2018 and 2021, brought together law enforcement agencies from across Australia and around the world to make a significant dent in global organised crime. As a result, more than 224 arrests were made, 3.7 tonnes of drugs and almost $45 million in cash and assets were seized. An ingenious encrypted app called Anom gave law enforcement agencies a remarkable insight into the global and insidious threat posed by organised crime. Warwick Jones, AFP Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute, talks with Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan, the AFP’s commander of Operation Ironside, about the challenges and threats posed to national security by organised crime and how an operation like this is conducted.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the former Jordanian diplomat, UN High Commissioner for  Human  Rights and think tank president  Dr  Zeid  Ra’ad  Al Hussein. Zeid served as Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States, and served as UN High Commissioner for  Human  Rights between 2014 and 2018. Zeid is the CEO and President of the International Peace Institute in New York and a professor of the practice of law and human rights at the University of Pennsylvania. Zeid and Michael speak about global efforts to address climate change, the situation in Afghanistan, and China’s record on human rights. Zeid reflects on his time as High Commissioner and his lifelong association with the UN, and discusses what the pandemic reveals about the international community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered one of the most severe global economic shocks since the Great Depression. In the Pacific, as in the rest of the world, economic activity has collapsed as a result of lockdowns to contain the virus. Without a strong domestic and international response the Pacific faces the prospects of a lost decade of economic development.Alexandre Dayant, Research Fellow and Project Director of Development Economics in Asia and the Pacific, discusses these issues, the response to date, and the economic support still needed, with a panel of Lowy Institute and regional experts. This event will coincide with the release of the fourth edition of the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map and will showcase the map’s new features and findings.Recorded on 29 September 2021See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia’s decision to cancel its French submarine contract in favour of partnering with the US and the UK on nuclear-powered boats has provoked local and international controversy. The decision has implications for US, Chinese, European and Southeast Asian diplomacy and defence policies. Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute’s Senior Fellow for East Asia, talks with three experts: Bilahari Kausikan, the former head of the Singapore Foreign Ministry, Yun Sun, of the Stimson Centre in Washington DC, and Nadège Rolland, of the National Bureau of Asia Research in the United States.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the long-time public official, policymaker, and former President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick. Bob served in the Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush administrations. He is the author of America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. Bob and Michael talk about Xi Jinping’s China, the Biden administration, and the AUKUS pact. Bob reflects on his mentor James Baker, why he decided to go into public life, and comments on the current direction of the GOP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Senior Fellow Richard McGregor speaks with Desmond Shum, the author of Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today’s China. Shum’s book has been acclaimed as a rare and revealing tell-all about how business is done at the top of the ruling communist party. Shum recounts his dealings with his business partner and former wife, Whitney Duan, and Zhang Beili, the wife of Wen Jiabao who was Premier – effectively number two in the party – from 2002 to 2012. Shum and Duan were divorced five years ago, and Whitney all but disappeared in 2017 after being detained in China. She had not been heard of until the book’s publication, when she called Shum out of the blue and asked that he withdraw it. The book was published in September. Shum now lives in the UK with his son.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott talks to Professor Shirley Scott, Professor of International Law and International Relations at UNSW, Canberra. She is the immediate past president of the Asian Society of International Law and was the first Australian to hold that position. Shirley has pioneered an understanding of international law as ideology and is the author of many books as well as the influential 2018 essay, The Decline of International Law as a Normative Ideal. They discuss the complex relationships between the rules-based order, international law, power and ideology.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the distinguished Canadian historian and award-winning author, Professor Margaret MacMillan. Margaret has written a number of books including Peacemakers, Nixon in China, and The War that Ended Peace. She has been a history professor at Ryerson University, the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford, where she served for a decade as the Warden of St Antony’s College. Margaret and Michael discuss how leaders should learn from history, the future of US-China relations, and the results of the recent Canadian election. Margaret talks about how she approached the task of writing about her great-grandfather David Lloyd George, Western approaches to war, and the differences between Canada and Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant speaks with Dr Julia Kim, the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan. The country has developed the concept of 'Gross National Happiness' as a means of assessing and understanding its national prosperity. Dr Kim explains the GNH methodology, how it has been used to evaluate the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and discusses how the concept of 'happiness' can be expanded to broaden understanding of a country's wellbeing. Dr Julia Kim is the Program Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan. She joined the GNH Centre in 2013 after serving as a member of the International Expert Working Group for a New Development Paradigm, convened by the Royal Government of Bhutan. Prior to living in Bhutan, she worked as a physician and HIV researcher in Africa and Asia, before serving with the United Nations in New York.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The withdrawal of the US military forces from Afghanistan marks the end of the 9/11 era of US foreign policy. Yet in many ways, the world still lives under the long shadow of the September 11 attacks and the consequences of the War on Terror.In conversation with Dr Meghan O’Sullivan, the former special assistant to President George W Bush and later Deputy National Security Adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan. She spoke with Lowy Institute Research Fellow Lydia Khalil about how September 11 has shaped America’s foreign policy stance in the two decades since the attacks - and how it will define global affairs into the future.Recorded Wednesday 8th September 2021Dr Meghan O'Sullivan is the Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and the Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Dr O’Sullivan was special assistant to President George W. Bush and served as Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan. Lydia Khalil is Research Fellow in th

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with John Howard, Australia’s 25th Prime Minister. John Howard was Treasurer from 1977 to 1983 in the Fraser government and served as Prime Minister between 1996 and 2007. Michael and John discuss how China has changed in the last twenty-five years, Australia’s relationship with East Timor, and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. John recounts watching Prime Minister Menzies eulogise Sir Winston Churchill, talks about being in Washington on 9/11, and reflects on Australia’s relations with Indonesia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Conversations, Jonathan Pryke speaks with Richard Marles, Deputy Leader of Australia’s Federal Opposition and Shadow Minister for National Reconstruction, Employment, Skills and Business. They discuss why the Pacific matters for Australia, and how Australia can play a more proactive role in its immediate region.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A discussion with two of Washington’s most insightful commentators on a defining moment of the Biden presidency: the withdrawal from Afghanistan.   Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove hosted this discussion with The New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser and Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Thomas Wright about the implications of the US withdrawal for the fight against terrorism and America’s role as the leading global power.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an increasingly contested world, basic questions about how the world works, and how it should work, are being asked anew. In Rules Based Audio we will be posing those questions to some of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners. This podcast series is part of the Lowy Institute’s Rules-Based Order project.In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Ben Scott talks to John Ikenberry, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. Amongst foreign policy thinkers, practitioners and students, John’s name is synonymous with liberal internationalism. He is the author of eight books, all exploring the idea of liberal internationalism, the concept of the liberal world order and America’s place in it. His latest book is A World Safe for Democracy: Liberal Internationalism and the Crises of Global Order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of Conversations, Herve Lemahieu speaks with Lowy Institute Middle East specialists Lydia Khalil and Rodger Shanahan on the capitulation of the Afghan government, the decisions and policy failures that led to this outcome, and what to expect from the Taliban back in power.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with Julia Gillard, Australia’s 27th Prime Minister. Julia Gillard was Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and then served as Australia’s first female Prime Minister from 2010 to 2013. Michael and Julia talk about the Australia-US alliance, China’s role in Asia, and the importance of the UN and the Quad. Julia reflects on Australia’s role in the Afghanistan war, what COVID has revealed about the UK and Australia, and world leaders she admires. This episode was recorded on Thursday 26 August, before the attacks at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Alexandre Dayant talks with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the world’s leading experts on economic development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty. They assess the state of global cooperation in the time of COVID-19, and the role the United States and Australia must play to foster worldwide inclusive economic recovery. They also discuss the impact of a possible intellectual property waiver for vaccines, as well as the responsibility of Australia in the face of the adverse consequences of climate change, especially in the Pacific. Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper commentaries appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership, and has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most inf

A conversation with leading US foreign policy practitioner and thinker Richard Haass, the President of the Council on Foreign Relations. Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove speaks with Dr Haass about President Biden’s foreign policy, China, Russia and the international implications of the coronavirus pandemic.Dr Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat, a prominent voice on American foreign policy, and an established leader of nonprofit institutions. He is in his nineteenth year as President of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organisation, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to helping people better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. He previously served as an adviser to President George H.W. Bush and as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department during George W. Bush’s first term.Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. He is

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow, Jennifer Hsu talks with Sophie McNeill, Australia researcher for Human Rights Watch and formerly an investigative reporter with ABC TV’s Four Corners program. They discuss how the Chinese government, despite being thousands of kilometres from Australia, has sought to influence and censor Chinese international students studying at Australian universities, especially those who express support for democratic movements.Sophie McNeill is the Australia researcher for Human Rights Watch. She was formerly an investigative reporter with ABC TV’s Four Corners program. She is the winner of three Walkley Awards. In 2020, she was the co-winner of the Lowy Institute’s Media Award for the ABC Four Corners episodes ‘Rebellion’ and ‘Tell the World’, about Hong Kong’s fight for democracy and China’s treatment of its Uyghur population.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Director’s Chair, Michael Fullilove speaks with the well-known American strategist and author, Dr Kori Schake. Kori began her career at the Pentagon before serving on the National Security Council and the State Department under President George W. Bush. She also served as the senior foreign policy adviser on Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Kori is currently a Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defence Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Kori and Michael talk about John McCain, the Iraq War, the West’s response to President Trump and US policy towards China. Kori talks about the influence Condoleezza Rice had on her during her studies at Stanford, reflects on her time in the Bush administration, and discusses the challenges of being a Republican in a Trumpified Washington.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.