The Lowy Institute

With Australia's security focus now firmly on the Pacific, it is easy to dismiss Australia's twenty-year military involvement in the Middle East as an aberration, or simply as a legacy function of our alliance with the United States. Yet Australia's direct connections and interests in the Middle East are much greater now than they were before the country committed military forces to the region. Canberra has a greater diplomatic presence, a military base, deeper economic interests and more significant people-to-people links in the Middle East than ever before. The evacuations by Australian troops from Lebanon in 2006 and Afghanistan in 2021, as well as the direct security threat to Australia posed by the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, show how we cannot insulate ourselves from the dynamics and instability of the region. In a new Analysis paper, Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Rodger Shanahan argues that Australia's contemporary focus on the Pacific should not blind it to the fact that it has contin

Ben Scott talks to Maria Rost Rublee, an Associate Professor of Politics & International Relations at Monash University, and Alan Kuperman, an Associate Professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, about Australia's plan to acquire nuclear powered submarines, and what that means for nuclear non-proliferation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu talks with Zhiqun Zhu to explore and assess some of China’s major foreign policy initiatives and priorities over the last five years. They discuss the driving forces behind these initiatives, including President Xi Jinping himself, and the major institutions that shape China’s foreign policy, namely the Chinese state, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people. Zhiqun Zhu is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University, USA. He is currently a US Fulbright Scholar at Griffith University, Australia. He is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including A Critical Decade: China’s Foreign Policy 2008­­­­–2018 (World Scientific, 2019). He is a member of the National Committee on United States–China Relations and is frequently quoted by international media on Chinese and East Asian affairs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Conversations, Susannah Patton talks to Greg Poling, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) about his new book, On Dangerous Ground: America’s Century in the South China Sea. The United States has strong interests in the South China Sea, including maintaining the freedom of the seas and supporting its regional allies and partners, especially the Philippines. How can the United States protect these interests and prevent China from making further gains in the South China Sea? And how would the situation in the South China Sea be affected by a further escalation in US-China tensions over Taiwan?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Xi Jinping is one of the world’s most powerful leaders and will remain so for many more years if, as expected, he secures a third term as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the forthcoming 20th National Congress of the CCP. Despite being in power for close to a decade, he is also a man that remains a mystery to much of the world. Dr Joseph Torigian, one of the premier scholars of the Chinese leader and elite politics, discusses Xi’s early years and rise to power and what that reveals about the Chinese leader’s worldview and agenda. The event was moderated by Richard McGregor, the Lowy Institute's Senior Fellow for East Asia.Recorded on 26 July 2022See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Half of all Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas, and Australia is home to more than 250 ancestries and 350 languages. The new Labor government has invoked Australia’s multiculturalism as a part of our national identity in its recent engagement with the region. But what is the role of Australia’s multiculturalism in foreign policy? Are diversity and diasporas a source of soft power and engagement? Our panel examined how Australia’s multiculturalism can inform foreign policymaking chaired by Dr Jennifer Hsu, Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program.Panel guests include:Dr Melissa Phillips is a Lecturer in Humanitarian and Development Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. She has previously worked for the United Nations and international NGOs in South Sudan, North Africa, and the Middle East, and recently co-edited Understanding Diaspora Development: Lessons from Australia and the Pacific. Jason Chai is th

Lowy Institute researchers unpacked the findings of the 2022 Lowy Institute Poll in Canberra. How has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed Australian attitudes? What do the public think about China and the new Australian government? How are Australians responding to the contested nature of our region?The annual Lowy Institute Poll has tracked Australian attitudes to the world for 18 years and uncovered fascinating shifts in public opinion on Australia’s place in the world. Australians have diverse attitudes to a range of key foreign policy issues, including Australia’s alliance with the United States, immigration in the time of a pandemic, and the rise of authoritarianism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has been increasing concern that Russia and China are using state-owned media companies, social media campaigns and proxy actors to manipulate public discourse in the global south. In this episode, Sasha Fegan discusses the influence of disinformation in the media landscape in Africa. Her guests will talk about how Russia and China calibrate their messaging to different nation states, and how Chinese state-owned media in Africa is replicating and reinforcing Russian narratives around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Idayat Hassan, is a lawyer, development expert and director of the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria. Dani Madrid-Morales, is a lecturer in the Department of Journalism Studies at The University of Sheffield. He is an expert on Africa-China mediated relations, particularly in Kenya and South Africa. His latest book is Disinformation in the Global South.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On 21 July 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted the launch of 'The Consul', written by Nonresident Fellow Ian Kemish. The book was launched by Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Tim Watts MP, with a conversation afterwards between Ian Kemish and Natasha Kassam, Director of the Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy program.How have world events shaped the way we travel now and what does future travel look like? What should we expect of our government when we are overseas? Where does personal responsibility begin and end? Is Australia’s consular service adequately resourced?Since 2000, there has been extraordinary growth in the demands on the Australian consular service — the men and women who step forward to support their fellow Australians when they experience serious difficulty overseas. Australia’s consular officers are often on the frontline of major international crises — from natural disasters to terrorist attacks, evacuations from war zones, to a global pandemic.Ian Kemish AM served as Austra

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Research Fellow Jennifer Hsu speaks with Jessica Teets about policy experimentation and diffusion at the local level in China, and the consequences for civil society. Jennifer and Jessica discuss local-level policy innovations that have taken place in the past five years, and also where space for experimentation has shrunk. They talk about what the Communist Party’s upcoming National Congress might mean for understanding long-term trends in policymaking in China. Jessica Teets is a Professor at Middlebury College, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Political Science. Her research focuses on governance in authoritarian regimes, especially the role of civic participation. She is the author of Civil Society Under Authoritarianism: The China Model (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Jessica is currently co-authoring a new book manuscript on changing governance under Xi Jinping. She has a forthcoming co-edited volume developing a theory of how t

Aus-PNG Network Leadership Series: Music in PNG In this episode, Mihai Sora is joined by Allen Kedea, also known by his stage name AKay47, to discuss the music scene in Papua New Guinea, and the role that music can play in empowering young people and building stronger connections between Papua New Guinea and Australia. Papua New Guinea has lot of natural resources, but there is growing recognition from government leaders and in the community that the creative economy also needs to be developed. “I think music is at the forefront of that,” says Allen. In Papua New Guinea, “everything we do incorporates music culturally, traditionally, it’s a part of a person from the moment you’re born, to when you attend funerals, marriages, when someone’s out gardening or fishing, it’s just a natural part of us…music is an extension of Papua New Guineans.” Allen says, “I would just encourage our young people to use what’s there, the technology is there…Appreciate where you come from, tell the story that you that you can tell

In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Natasha Kassam, Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, discusses Taiwan-Australia relations with Dr Chen Jie, Dr Sophie McIntyre and Dr Roger Huang. They discuss the emphasis on democracy for both Taiwan and Australia, the potential for more cultural and indigenous diplomacy, and the role that United States and China play in shaping Australia-Taiwan relations. Dr Chen Jie is an Associate Professor in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia. Dr Sophie McIntyre is a Senior Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology and an established art curator. Dr Roger Huang is a Lecturer in Terrorism and Political Violence at Macquarie University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aus-PNG Network Leadership Series: Music in PNG In this episode, Mihai Sora is joined by Allen Kedea, also known by his stage name AKay47, to discuss the music scene in Papua New Guinea, and the role that music can play in empowering young people and building stronger connections between Papua New Guinea and Australia. Papua New Guinea has lot of natural resources, but there is growing recognition from government leaders and in the community that the creative economy also needs to be developed. “I think music is at the forefront of that,” says Allen. In Papua New Guinea, “everything we do incorporates music culturally, traditionally, it’s a part of a person from the moment you’re born, to when you attend funerals, marriages, when someone’s out gardening or fishing, it’s just a natural part of us…music is an extension of Papua New Guineans.” Allen says, “I would just encourage our young people to use what’s there, the technology is there…Appreciate where you come from, tell the story that you that you ca

On 7 July 2022, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, gave an address at the Lowy Institute in Sydney titled A Pacific Springboard to Engage the World: New Zealand's Independent Foreign Policy.Video of event available here - https://youtu.be/gK785x4jEDkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join the Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu, as he talks to the Institute’s head of polling, Natasha Kassam, about the 2022 Lowy Institute Poll and what Australians think about Russia, China and the threat of conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Natasha shares the process of developing the flagship Lowy Institute Poll over the past 18 years, why Australians are feeling unsafe and their thoughts about democratic systems of government in an election year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join the Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, Sam Roggeveen, as he talks with economist and political scientist Chris Blattman about his latest book, Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. Chis talks about the human propensity to violence, whether certain types of governments are more likely to go to war, and the unique perspective that an economist can bring to this subject.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Rules Based Audio, Sasha Fegan talks to Carl Miller about online manipulation, disinformation, misinformation and inauthentic behaviour. We know it is proliferating, and we know it has a corrosive impact on trust and democratic institutions. But are liberal democracies responding in the right ways? Is the solution technical? Educational? Or is it legislative?   Carl Miller is the Research Director at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at UK think tank Demos.Sasha Fegan is a Research Associate in the Australia’s Security and the Rules-Based Order Project at the Lowy Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is becoming increasingly important to Indian, Japanese, Australian and American efforts to balance Chinese power and extend the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic importance to Australia was underscored this May when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the Quad leaders’ meeting in Tokyo his first foreign engagement as Prime Minister. At this special event, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove discussed the Quad’s evolving role with leading thinkers from two other Quad countries:Dr Samir Saran, President of India’s Observer Research Foundation. Dr Saran curates the Raisina Dialogue, India’s annual flagship platform on geopolitics and geo-economics, and is the founder of CyFy, India’s annual conference on cybersecurity and internet governance. Samir has authored four books, including The New World Disorder and the Indian Imperative with Shashi Tharoor, and Pax Sinica: Implications for the Indian Dawn with Akhil Deo. Dr Kori Schake, D

Moscow’s escalating confrontation with the West means that Russia is now more reliant on China, geopolitically and economically, than at any time in the two countries’ history. What are the implications arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the most serious conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War? What impact will the war in Ukraine’s have on the evolution of the Sino-Russian partnership, which has assumed pivotal importance — not just for the outcome of the war, but for the future of global order?On 1 June 2022, the Lowy Institute hosted an event at the National Press Club of Australia with Dr Bobo Lo, Nonresident Fellow to discuss his new Lowy Institute Analysis Paper Turning point? Putin, Xi and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The event was hosted by Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute. Dr Bobo Lo is a Nonresident Fellow with the Lowy Institute and is an independent analyst on global affairs. He is an Associate Research Fellow with the Russia/NIS Center at the

This is a special Women in Politics  series for the  Australia-PNG Network, in which the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in PNG.In this fifth and final episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Dame Carol Kidu, about the discrimination and disadvantage experienced by indigenous Papua New Guinean women as they seek to get elected.Carol is one of seven women who served in PNG’s National Parliament. She also managed to get re-elected twice, despite half of all politicians losing their seat at every election.Carol’s tenure as a politician is remarkable, but she said her husband’s legacy and her European background helped secure ongoing community support. She often heard from her community, “We don’t mind you being here, but we don’t want our own women here [in parliament].”Carol talks us through the issues that are increasingly disadvantaging women during campaigns, such as bloc vo